Action Targets al-Shabaab Supporters Based in Somalia
and Kenya as Well as Eritrean Officials
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated six
individuals pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13536, “Blocking Property of
Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia.” The individuals targeted today include Col.
Tewolde Negash and Col. Taeme Goitom, two Eritrean government officials; Suhayl
Salim Muhammad `Abd-el-Rahman (aka Abu-Faris), a Sudanese al-Shabaab foreign
fighter facilitator; and Abubaker Shariff Ahmed, Omar Awadh Omar and Aboud Rogo
Mohammed who are three Kenyan al-Shabaab supporters.
The
President issued E.O. 13536 in April 2010 to target individuals and entities
engaging in acts that directly or indirectly threaten the peace, security or
stability of Somalia. Al-Shabaab was
listed in the annex of E.O. 13536. It
was also previously identified in February 2008 by the State Department as a
Foreign Terrorist Organization and designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, the U.S.
government’s terrorism sanctions authority.
Previous designations under E.O. 13536 have included members of al-Shabaab,
a member of the Eritrean government, and pirates that operate in Somalia and
neighboring countries throughout the region.
Today’s designations of individuals based in Somalia, Kenya and Eritrea
highlight the regional nature of the conflict in Somalia.
“The
United States is determined to target those who are responsible for the ongoing
bloodshed and instability in Somalia,” said Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) Director Adam J. Szubin. “By designating these individuals today
we are taking action to support our partner governments in East Africa and the
African Union Mission in Somalia in their efforts to dismantle al-Shabaab.”
Col. Tewolde Habte Negash
Eritrean
Intelligence Officer Col. Tewolde Habte Negash funnels money to anti-Transitional
Federal Government (“TFG”) groups in Somalia, including al-Shabaab.
Col.
Negash was the principal architect of the Government of Eritrea’s relationship
with al-Shabaab in Mogadishu in 2006 and he has been the principal coordinator
of financial and logistical support to a number of armed groups, including
al-Shabaab, since 2004. He has remained
actively involved in Eritrean training of and support to foreign armed
opposition groups since December 2009 and is reported to have traveled over land
from Uganda, through Kenya, and on to Somalia in September 2009 where he met
with members of al-Shabaab and other armed groups.
Col.
Negash reportedly spent considerable time in Mogadishu for a period beginning
in 2006 coordinating support to armed groups, including al-Shabaab. He reportedly provided explosives training to
another armed group in Mogadishu in 2006 and he appears to have been indirectly
involved in the training of al-Shabaab fighters between 2007 and 2009 at an
Eritrean training camp for instruction in suicide bombing and vehicle-borne improvised
explosive devices.
Col. Taeme Abraham Goitom
According
to a March 2010 report issued by the UN Security Council Somalia/Eritrea
Sanctions Committee’s Monitoring Group, officials of the Alliance for the
Re-Liberation of Somalia (“ARS”) described Col. Goitom as a senior government
official who played a direct role in decisions concerning key ARS appointments.
The Asmara wing of the ARS was a component of the former rebel group Hizbul
Islam, which joined al-Shabaab in December 2010. Under Hizbul Islam, ARS-Asmara established a
serious military threat against the TFG and the African Union Mission in
Somalia (“AMISOM”) forces. The Asmara wing of the ARS publicly rejected the
election of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and mounted sustained
operations against TFG and AMISOM forces.
Col. Goitom has also been reported to be an important arms trafficker in
the region with clients such as the insurgents in Somalia.
Suhayl Salim Abd-El-Rahman aka Abu-Faris
Abu-Faris
is a Somalia-based Sudanese extremist who works on behalf of al-Shabaab
facilitating the travel of foreign fighters to an al-Shabaab training camp in
Somalia. Abu-Faris also facilitates
financial assistance for foreign extremists in Somalia.
Since
2007, Abu-Faris has acted as a facilitator for the entry of foreign fighters
and extremists into Somalia and has
advised them when travel to Somalia is possible. In 2009, Abu-Faris facilitated
the travel of foreign fighters to an al-Shabaab training camp outside Kismaayo. In 2010, Abu-Faris facilitated the travel of
extremists from Chad to Somalia. Abu- Faris coordinated the travel of such
persons to Somalia via Nairobi.
Aboud Rogo Mohammed
Kenya-based
extremist Islamic cleric Aboud Rogo Mohammed has engaged in acts that threaten
the peace, security, or stability of Somalia and provided financial, material,
logistical, or technical support to al-Shabaab.
Specifically, Aboud Rogo Mohammed’s activities include fund-raising for
al-Shabaab.
He
continues to exert influence over extremist groups in East Africa as part of
his campaign to promote violence throughout East Africa. As an ideological
leader, Aboud Rogo Mohammed has used an extremist group as a pathway for
radicalization and recruitment of principally Swahili-speaking Africans for
"action" in Somalia. In a series of inspirational lectures between
February 2009 and February 2012, Aboud Rogo repeatedly called for the violent
rejection of the Somali peace process. During these lectures, Aboud Rogo
Mohammed repeatedly called for the use of violence against both the United
Nations and AMISOM forces in Somalia, and urged his audiences to travel to
Somalia to join al-Shabaab's fight against the Kenyan Government.
Aboud
Rogo Mohammed also offers guidance on how Kenyan recruits joining al-Shabaab
can evade detection by the Kenyan authorities, and which routes to follow when
traveling from Mombasa, Kenya, and/or Lamu to al-Shabaab strongholds in
Somalia, notably Kismaayo. He has facilitated the travel to Somalia of numerous
Kenyan recruits for al-Shabaab.
In
September 2008, Aboud Rogo Mohammed held a fundraising meeting in Mombasa to
help finance al-Shabaab activities in Somalia.
In September 2011, Aboud Rogo Mohammed was recruiting individuals in
Mombasa for travel into Somalia, presumably to conduct terrorist
operations.
Omar Awadh Omar
Kenyan
national Omar Awadh Omar (“Omar”) has provided financial, material, logistical,
or technical support for al-Shabaab. Omar
has facilitated funding to al-Shabaab and is believed to have facilitated the
movement of foreign fighters and supplies into Somalia. Omar was also allegedly
involved in planning the July 11, 2010 attack against fans watching a World Cup
match in Kampala, Uganda. He is
currently incarcerated in Uganda awaiting trial. Al-Shabaab claimed
responsibility for this attack, which killed 74 people.
Abubaker Shariff Ahmed aka Makaburi
Kenya-based
Abubaker Shariff Ahmed is a leading facilitator and recruiter of young Kenyan
Muslims for “action” in Somalia, and a close associate of Aboud Rogo Mohammed. He provides material support to extremist
groups in Kenya and elsewhere in East Africa.
Through his frequent trips to al-Shabaab strongholds in Somalia,
including Kismaayo, he has been able to maintain strong ties with senior al-Shabaab
members. Abubaker Shariff Ahmed is also engaged in the mobilization and
management of funding for al-Shabaab.
Abubaker Shariff Ahmed has preached at mosques in Mombasa that young men
should travel to Somalia, commit extremist acts, fight for al-Qa’ida, and kill
U.S. citizens. Abubaker Shariff Ahmed
was arrested in late December 2010 by Kenyan authorities on suspicion of
involvement in the bombing of a Nairobi bus terminal. Abubaker Shariff Ahmed is also a leader of a
Kenya-based youth organization in Mombasa with ties to al-Shabaab. As of 2010, Abubaker Shariff Ahmed acted as
recruiter and facilitator for al-Shabaab in the Majengo area of Mombasa.
Identifying Information
Tewolde Habte Negash
AKA: Abdirahim Muse
AKA: Tewaled Holde Nagesh
AKA: Senay Beraki Meharen
AKA: Amanuel Kidane
AKA: Tewold Habte Negash
AKA: Tewelde Habte Negash
AKA: Bitewelde Habte Negash
AKA: Tewaled Holde Nagash
AKA: Wedi
AKA: Desta
AKA: Abdirahman Musa
AKA: Abdirahman Muse
AKA: Emanuel Negash
AKA: Abdirahim Musa
AKA: Ole Negash
DOB: 5 September 1960
POB: Asmara, Eritrea
Passport: Diplomatic Passport No. D0001060
Passport: Diplomatic Passport No. D000080
Nationality:
Eritrean
Position:
Intelligence Officer
Taeme Abraham Goitom
AKA: Ta’ame Abraham Selassie
AKA:
Abraham Selassie Ta’ame
AKA: Te'ame Abraham Selassie
AKA: Te’ame Goitom
AKA: Tesfalen
AKA:
Tsegai
AKA:
Dha'ame
AKA:
Teame
AKA:
Ta’ame
AKA:
Gaamei
AKA:
Da'ame
AKA:
Simon Gebredengel
AKA:
Te’ame Abraha Selassie
AKA:
Mekele
AKA:
Mekelle
AKA:
Meqele
DOB: 1957
Alt.
DOB: 1956
POB: Akale Guzay (Shemejena)
Passport
No.: Laissez-Passer 02154
Position: Head of Eritrean External Intelligence
Operation
Title/Rank: Colonel
Alt.
Title/Rank: Brigadier General
Suhayl Salim Abd-El-Rahman
AKA: Abu Faris al-Sudani
AKA: Abu-Faris
AKA: Haytham Zayn
AKA: Suhayl Abdurahaman
AKA: Sahib Muhammad
AKA: Suhayl Salim Abd El-Rahman
AKA: Zain Ul-Abideen
AKA: Sundus
AKA: Saba
AKA: Sana
AKA: Suhayl Salim
POB: Rabak, Sudan
DOB: 17 June 1984
Alt.
DOB: 1990
Passport
#: C0004350
Personal
ID #: A00710804
Aboud Rogo Mohammed
AKA: Aboud Mohammad Rogo
AKA: Aboud Seif Rogo
AKA: Aboud Mohammed Rogo
AKA: Sheikh Aboud Rogo
AKA: Aboud Rogo Muhammad
AKA: Aboud Rogo Mohamed
DOB
#1: 11 November 1960
Alternate
DOB: 11 November 1967
Alternate
DOB: 11 November 1969
Alternate
DOB: 1 January 1969
POB: Kenya
Alternate
POB: Lamu Island, Kenya
Citizenship: Kenya
Omar Awadh Omar
AKA: Omar Sahal
AKA: Omar Awadh
DOB: 20 September 1973
POB: Mombasa, Kenya
Passport: Kenya #A764712, Expires 27 March 2013
Alt.
Passport: Kenya #B002271
Alt.
Passport: East Africa #KE007776, Expires
August 2009
Location: Kenya
Abubaker Sharrif Ahmed
AKA: Makaburi
AKA: Sheikh Abubakar Ahmed
AKA: Abubaker Shariff Ahmed
AKA: Abu Makaburi Shariff
AKA: Abubaker Shariff
AKA: Abubakar Ahmed
DOB: 1962
DOB
#2: 1967
POB: Kenya
Citizenship: Kenya
Alt.
Address: Majengo area, Mombasa, Kenya
###