Leaders call for unfreezing Al-Barakaat assets

Somalia's various political factions and the Transitional National Government (TNG), attending reconciliation talks in the Kenyan town of Eldoret, have issued a joint statement calling on the international community to lift the freeze on the assets of the Al-Barakaat bank. The Al-Barakaat group was one of the organisations and individuals the US authorities accused of having links with terrorism following last year's 11 September attacks. On 7 November 2001, Al-Barakaat's assets were seized and frozen worldwide on charges of acting as a conduit for the transfer of funds to terrorists. Representatives and the management of Al-Barakaat have vigorously denied the claims, arguing that their books are open to scrutiny, and asserting that any investigation would vindicate them. They accused the US government of responding to "rumours and lies" about them. Abdirahman Ibbi, the TNG information minister, told IRIN that the closure of Al-Barakaat had affected every Somali. "This is why we are all speaking with one voice on this issue," he said. "We are appealing to the countries involved to lift the freeze and allow people to withdraw their meagre savings." Ibbi said the freezing of Al-Barakaat's assets and those of other money transfer companies had resulted in economic hardship for thousands of small depositors and had made many more Somalis jobless. The group - which was involved in money transfers, telecommunications and soft drinks - was the biggest employer in Somalia before it was closed down last year. Those who signed the statement included TNG Prime Minister Hasan Abshir Farah and Transitional National Assembly Speaker Abdullah Derow Isak. Others were prominent Mogadishu-based faction leaders such as Husayn Farah Aydid, Muhammad Qanyare Afrah, Muse Sudi Yalahow and Umar Finish. Muhammad Hasan Nur Shatigadud and Shaykh Aden Madobe of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, and Gen Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan, as well as a number of civil society individuals were also signatories, a Somali source told IRIN.