|
Nairobi, November 7, 2009 – Don't promote democracy,
fire all women, don't take Sundays off and remove all logos from your
vehicles: these are only some of the 11 new rules Somalia's Shabaab
rebels want to slap on aid groups.
According to a document obtained by AFP on Friday and issued two days
earlier by the authorities for the south-central Bay and Bakool region -
the country's main humanitarian hub - aid groups should comply with
tough new guidelines.
"We are notifying all aid agencies operating in Bay and Bakool region
that we will ensure their security 100%... and that the Islamic state of
Bay and Bakool will issue permits once the following conditions are
met," it says.
Fees
The list of requirements, which was distributed to local aid group
representatives on Thursday, includes a registration fee of $20 000
payable twice a year.
Several humanitarian organizations confirmed receiving the document,
which bears the Shabaab's logo, but no official from the
al-Qaeda-inspired insurgent group was immediately willing to comment on
the record.
High-ranking Shabaab and security officials however confirmed the
document's authenticity, but also said that some of the insurgent
group's leaders thought the conditions too harsh and were pushing for
the document to be re-examined.
Bay and Bakool are the main hub for the international aid efforts in the
Horn of Africa country, where the Western-backed central government is
unable to assert its authority a few blocks beyond the presidency in
Mogadishu.
Weeded out
The United Nations has its largest humanitarian compound there, in the
town of Wajid, and most aid organizations have already been weeded out
from other regions under Islamist control.
The document imposes draconian conditions concerning women employees,
who should all be replaced with men within three months.
Aid organizations "should distance (themselves) from anything that will
affect proper Islamic culture... like promoting adultery and
establishing women's groups."
World Women's Day is singled out along with Christmas and World Aids Day
as proscribed celebrations, while "preaching democracy" is also listed
as a value "interfering with Islam" that should be banned.
The Shabaab also reiterated a ban on alcohol and movies and also
insisted that all humanitarian organizations’' logos should be removed
from vehicles and all flags be taken down.
Source: AFP, November 6, 2009
|
|
