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Agencies suffer as plug is pulled on Somali telecoms
30 Nov 2001
President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan heads transitional government
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President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan heads transitional government
File photo by ANTONY NJUGUNA
LONDON (AlertNet) - Somalia's only Internet company and its leading telecommunications firm, vital lifelines for the United Nations and aid agencies, have been forced to close because the United States suspects them of terrorist links, according to the BBC.

A report on the BBC's Africa Service says the Somalia Internet Company and al-Barakaat both appear on a U.S. list of organisations accused of funnelling money to the al-Qaeda network and feature in a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Al-Qaeda is suspected by Washington of being behind the suicide hijacking attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11.

The closures have cut off all Internet access in Somalia, severely restricted international telephone lines and shut down vitally needed money transfer facilities.

The two firms were among companies listed in documents issued by the U.S. Treasury earlier this month as having had their assets in the United States frozen because of suspected ties to terrorist financing networks. Both have denied any links to terrorists.

The BBC report said the Somali Internet Company was forced to close when it realised that its international gateway had been cut off.

The firm is the east African country's first Internet service provider and began operations in August 2000.

Correspondents say the closure of the companies will have a devastating effect on the country, which desperately needs the services they provide.

BBC correspondent Hassan Barise was quoted as saying that more than 80 percent of Somalis depended on money they receive from relatives outside the country.

He said all Internet cafes had shut down and international phone lines run by two other companies were failing to cope with the extra pressure of calls.

He also pointed out that the United Nations, local and international aid agencies, as well as the government itself, relied heavily on Internet access, now denied.

"I would say it is very depressing and if I could find any stronger word than that I would say it," he said.

He added the impact would be felt even more strongly because the cuts have come during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Al-Barakaat, Somalia's largest company with interests in telecommunications, banking and postal services, closed its financial businesses after its assets were frozen.

Its international telephone service was then shut down when its international gateway -- run jointly by U.S.-based AT&T and British Telecom -- was also cut off.

The company, which has 600 shareholders, is the largest employer in Somalia.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Somalis depend on it to transfer money throughout the world, according to the BBC

Somalis living abroad use it to send money to their relatives back home as there are no other banking systems in Somalia since the downfall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.

Somalia's prime minister has issued a decree appointing a special committee to investigate al-Barakaat, as well as all other remittance companies.

Somalia descended into chaos after Siad Barre's fall in 1991 and has since disintegrated into fiefdoms controlled by rival clan-based warlords.

The transitional government of President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, elected by clan elders and traditional leaders at a gathering in Djibouti last year, represents the most serious attempt to set up a central administration since then, but it still controls only pockets of the capital Mogadishu.


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Last updated:Fri Jan 13 03:13:03 2006