June 12, 2011: A local Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group has murdered Somalia’s interior minister. On Friday, Interior Minister Abdishakur Sheik Hassan was killed in a suicide bombing at his home in the capital, Mogadishu. Local sources said the suspected bomber may have been a female relative, according to Newstime Africa.

Major Paddy Ankunda of the African Union peacekeeping force backing the UN-backed interim government said his forces were on high alert following the assassination. The attack came after a threat Thursday by the Al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorist group, which vowed to carry out “brazen attacks deep inside enemy territory” – a reference to government-controlled areas of the capital.

Al-Shabab – meaning “the youth” in Arabic – represents the largest of several Islamist and other clan militias fighting Somalia’s fragile transitional government. The group is led by Muktar Ali Robow, whose nom de guerre is Abu Mansoor. The group, dedicated to implementing Sharia (Islamic law) in Somalia, has fought Somalia’s government since its inception in late 2006.

Formerly the military wing of the deposed Islamic Court Union (ICU), its members controlled central and southern Somalia. But when ICU leader Sharif Ahmed was sworn in as president of the Somalia government, his former comrades-in-arms accused him of betraying their cause.

Refusing to participate in talks with the new government, Al-Shabab instead vowed to topple the new regime. Its founder, Aden Hashi Ayro, reportedly had trained with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. He used that knowledge to recruit new members and to terrorize nearly the entire country.

The group appears on the U.S. State Department list of terrorist organizations and is reported to have attracted members from other African nations, Yemen and Pakistan. In addition, the FBI has expressed concern that the group is also recruiting Western nationals to fight in Somalia.

Al-Shabab has also threatened to attack neighboring Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi. Al-Shabaab’s website featured a video of terrorists chanting in Swahili, “We will reach Nairobi. When we arrive, we will hit until we kill.” Recent violent demonstrations in Kenya followed a governmental decision to deport Jamaican Muslim cleric Abdullah al-Faisal, who has spent time in jail in Britain for urging Muslims to engage in holy war, or jihad, against Westerners, Christians, Hindus, and Jews. Six people were killed in riots, including a police officer.

Following these threats a delegation of parliamentarians, security officials, and diplomats from Kenya visited Israel to learn about standing up to radical Islamic terror. The Kenyan delegation toured the southern city of Sderot to gain an in-depth look at the Jewish State’s anti-terror security measures. Sderot Regional Security Chief Kobi Harush briefed the group about measures taken by the Israeli government to protect Sderot and regional towns from rocket attacks, including the provision of bomb shelters and early warning systems.

May 2011: Greece’s crisis follows years of inept governance, widespread corruption and waste that created bloated budget deficits and a public debt considerably larger than annual economic output.

Greece is shielded from insolvency by a euro110 billion ($158 billion) package of rescue loans in a 2010-2013 program from its European Union partners and International Monetary Fund.

Despite drastic spending cuts with reductions to pensions and salaries accompanied by an increase in taxes and retirement ages, Greece may need additional support to meet its financing needs next year, as the cost of borrowing from bond markets remains sky-high.

EU and IMF officials are currently in Athens for talks on the austerity program on which the continued release of the bailout loans depends. Greek unions state the protracted austerity, amid a two-year recession and unemployment at around 15 per cent, is unfairly targeting the less well-off.

An opinion poll commissioned by the private Mega TV station stated 71 per cent of the public oppose the government’s handling of the economic crisis, compared with 66 per cent in February.

Parliament is expected to vote on the new round of cutbacks later this month. The governing Socialists have committed themselves to an ambitious privatization program worth a total of euro50 billion ($72 billion) over the next few years.

However, many promised reforms have not yet been implemented, and there is growing skepticism in Greece and abroad over the government’s efficiency. The Socialists’ 18-month-old government held a slender lead over the main opposition conservatives.

Several thousand people some chanting “Finance Minister, leave the planet” took part in the demonstration called by the two main labour unions. Previous protests have also been marred by violence, and three clerks died last May when their bank was torched by rioters.

The fighting divided the 40,000 strong march which was otherwise peaceful into two. At one stage, choking clouds of chemicals fired by police sent demonstrators and tourists scurrying for cover past shops and banks that had their fronts shuttered in anticipation of trouble.

Earlier, about 10,000 members of the Communist-led PAME union held a peaceful protest, with banners reading “We reject and condemn the new measures. We’re intensifying the fight.” Another 8,000 people joined in two separate protests in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Riot police made heavy use of tear gas and stun grenades to disperse youths throwing stones and petrol bombs at a large march through central Athens Wednesday to protest the Greek government’s harsh austerity measures. The clashes came during a 24-hour general strike that brought most public services to a halt, suspended all train and ferry services, grounded flights for four hours and disrupted public transport.

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May 11, 2011: Russia’s president has told the country’s top security officials to beef up the security at Russia’s foreign missions in the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Dmitry Medvedev made the call at a meeting with the heads of the country’s Security Council, Interior Ministry and intelligence agencies.

Russia maintains that al-Qaida finances insurgents in the Caucasus and sends representatives to the region where country’s security forces face near-daily attacks from insurgents.

According to remarks released by the Kremlin, the Russian president stated “The elimination of terrorists, even at the level of the recent destruction of bin Laden, has a direct relation on the level of security on the territory of our state.”

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