Somali tied to Islamists worked with WFP, UNICEF-UN

11 Mar 2010 19:56:01 GMT

Source: Reuters

* Kidnapped aid workers' ransom sent to contractor account

* UN report details aid diversion, arms embargo breaches

* UN's Ban urged to open independent investigation of WFP

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, March 11 (Reuters) - A Somali businessman linked to Islamist militants, and who may have pocketed ransom for the release of kidnapped aid workers, has been a contractor for the World Food Program and UNICEF, a U.N. report said.

A confidential report by the U.N. Somalia Monitoring Group, seen by Reuters on Thursday, described the man it named as Adbdullah Ali "Luway" and his links with Islamist al Shabaab militants as a case study in how U.N. agencies have unwittingly allowed aid for needy Somalis to enrich rebels and criminals.

Three French workers with humanitarian group Action Against Hunger were snatched by gunmen in July 2009 and held for several months. In October a ransom of $1.36 million was paid into an account at a money transfer firm in Baidoa, Somalia.

The account belonged to Luway, the 74-page report alleges.

"A prominent business man, Luway serves as a contractor for WFP and UNICEF in the Baidoa area," it said, adding that he rents vehicles to both agencies and his water firm Gargarwadag often works for UNICEF.

He also receives $3,000 a month in rent from UNICEF, the United Nations children's fund, for use of a building that formerly housed the parliament of Somalia, a virtually lawless country that has lacked an effective government since 1991.

In addition to his work with the U.N., Luway has been the "local financier" of the al Shabaab authority in Baidoa since the Islamist group took control the area in January 2009 and is a "close associate" of Sheikh Muktar Robow Abuu Mansuur, a senior al Shabaab official, the report said.

The United States lists Robow as a terrorist.

EXPLOITING CONNECTIONS

Al Shabaab, which controls much of southern and central Somalia, has declared loyalty to al Qaeda and wants to impose its own harsh version of sharia law throughout the country.

Luway, the report says, is also believed to have been involved in the looting of the U.N. compound in Baidoa in July 2009, when U.N. vehicles were stolen and taken to Mogadishu.

"Luway has successfully exploited his social and political connections into an intermediary role between al Shabaab leadership in Baidoa and the United Nations -- a situation that has evoked formal protest from clan elders," it said.

The report, which was submitted to the U.N. Security Council's Somalia sanctions committee and will be discussed by the council next week, says that as much as half of the food aid sent to Somalia is diverted to a network of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and local U.N. staff.

The report, which has not been published, outlines such serious problems that it recommends U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon open an independent investigation into the WFP's operations in Somalia.

It also details violations of the U.N. arms embargo against Somalia, saying many of the weapons rebels are getting come from Yemen, but also from Somalia's weak U.N.-backed transitional government, which al Shabaab hopes to overthrow.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement that her agency "stands ready to offer full cooperation with any independent inquiry into its work in Somalia."

The WFP suspended its work in much of southern Somalia in January due to threats against its staff and because al Shabaab was demanding payments for security.

UNICEF had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. (Editing by Anthony Boadle)