Dubious Qatari involvement in Somalia

Somalia is one of the most important countries in the Horn of Africa region. This state has a remarkable strategic location in the region, which gives it leverage on the movement of global trade.

Somalia overlooks or is in close proximity to a large number of international water passageways, including the Indian Ocean; the Bab el-Mandeb Strait; the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. This gives what happens inside it a significant impact on these passageways.

Somalia has been viewed for long as a natural extension of the Arab Peninsula because of its geographical proximity to this region. This also gives it influence on the security situation in the peninsula. It is a member of the Arab League and has a predominantly Muslim population.

The unrest that followed the downfall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 gave a number of regional and international powers the chance to implement their schemes in Somalia. Some of these powers fuelled the country's civil war.  

This unrest opened the door for the emergence of extremist organizations, such as al-Shabaab al-Mujahedeen, in the country. Al-Shabaab is by far the most dangerous of all terrorist groups that appeared in Somalia and neighboring states.

Since its emergence in 2007, al-Shabaab managed to overrun more than 85 percent of Somalia's land. It killed hundreds of people and injured thousands of others. In February, 2008, the United States included al-Shabaab in its list of international terrorist organizations.

Foreign interference in Somalia began shortly after the downfall of the Siad Barre regime, with a US-led ground operation. Called Operation "Restoring Hope", the move, which started in 1992, came across miserable failures. US troops had to pull out of Somalia. Nonetheless, the US never ceased attempting to destabilize Somalia through neighboring Ethiopia.

Qatar and Turkey also play dubious roles in the country. Doha gave al-Shabaab – through Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi – $250,000 in 2012[1], according to a report by the US Department of the Treasury.

In 2009, former US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, asked Turkey to make it clear to Qatar that it had to suspend funding to al-Shabaab, according to the international non-profit organization WikiLeaks. Qatar financed al-Shabaab, WikiLeaks said, through Eritrea.

Former Somali prime minister Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said at a meeting with some US diplomats in Libya that Qatar provided financial support to al-Shabaab[2].  

It was clear that Doha's ultimate goal was to turn Somalia into a fertile soil for terrorist organizations to take root and grow.

The Somali national news agency, Sonna, reported news about a secret meeting of intelligence officers from Turkey, Qatar and Iran, along with representatives of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and Fahd Yassin, a Somali senior presidency official who has close links with the Qatari government and well-known scholar Youssef al-Qaradawi.

Yassin, the agency reported, was assigned the mission of causing problems to local governments in Somalia.  

Qatar founded an operations room at its embassy in Somali capital Mogadishu with the aim of coordinating the work of terrorist groups active in the country.  

Qatari and Iranian intelligence officers are, meanwhile, leading specialized teams to back the same terrorist groups. Zakaria Ismail, the top leader al-Shabaab leader, was a member of these specialized teams.

Yassin also works to sow the seeds of tension between the government of Somali President Mohammed Abdullah Farmaajo, on one hand, and states opposed to Qatari policies, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, on the other.  

Qatar, Iran and Somalia's Muslim Brotherhood, namely Islah Movement, Sonna said, are waging a proxy war in Somalia with the aim of controlling it through Salafist militias. They sometimes, it added, receive support from some local governments.  

The Somali newspaper, Sonna Times, accused Qatar, Iran and the Brotherhood of having interests in undermining the Somali state.

"Qatar sponsors Islah Movement to strengthen its own influence and expand its geopolitical presence in Somalia," the newspaper said.

It also accused Yassin of cooperating with Qatar to found a new Qatari military arm in Somalia[3].

Islah Movement was founded in 1978 as an ideological offshoot of the Brotherhood in Egypt[4]. This as a fact divulges Qatari and Brotherhood involvement in backing the movement.

Turkey has been trying to gain a foothold in Somalia since 2005. It established a military base in the Gulf of Aden in late 2017 to ostensibly fight terrorism.

President Farmaajo paid an official visit to Turkey in April 2017, heralding an improvement in relations with Ankara. He was warmly welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey prepares, meanwhile, to open its second military base in Africa, namely in Mogadishu.

Farmaajo wrote on Twitter that the base would be opened "soon".

"The largest Turkish military base is almost ready for opening," Farmaajo wrote. "The Somali army will be strong again"[5].

The military base in the Gulf of Aden on the Somali coast was established in the light of an agreement signed in March 2015 during a visit to Somalia by Erdogan.  

The base will offer training to the Somali army, especially in counterterrorism operations. It contains three military schools and a weapons warehouse on an area of ​​400. Its construction cost $50 million, being the largest outside Turkish borders.  

A host of diplomats warn against Turkish military plans in Somalia. Turkish military bases, they say, pose danger to security in Egypt and the Arab Gulf.  

"The bases give Turkey military presence in this strategic region," said Mona Omar, Egypt's former assistant foreign minister for African Affairs. "Turkish presence in this region threatens Egypt’s national security."

She described Turkey as an "unfriendly" state that offers backing to terrorist organizations active in Egypt.

Egypt, she said, cannot tolerate Turkish presence in the Red Sea[6].

Recent developments show Qatari and Turkish involvement in Somali positions towards countries that are essentially opposed to Qatari and Turkish policies.

Communication between terrorist organization active in Somalia and those active in Yemen is a matter of grave concern for the anti-terrorism Arab camp.

Qatar actively supports groups linked to al-Qaeda and Daesh in both Somalia and Yemen.  

This makes it necessary for Arab states to intervene and rescue Somalia from plans aimed at turning it into a source of danger for Arab security.