By ABDULKADIR KHALIF
Monday, October 12, 2009
Addressing a press conference in Mogadishu on Sunday, Hizbu Islam’s public services officer, Sheikh Sulayman Sahal Muuse Abu Hanifa, told all local and international NGOs to report to his office for formal registration within 15 days, with effect from October 10.
Hizbu Islam is the second largest Islamist group opposing the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.
Sheikh Abu Hanifa pointed out that it was mandatory to know what services the NGOs were offering to the public.
“Local and international NGOs,’’ said Sheikh Abu Hanifa; “must submit their programmes and activities without failure.”
The sheikh warned the agencies against evasion.
“All organisations operating in the territories controlled by Hizbu Islam must accept accountability,” said Sheikh Abu Hanifa.
“This is the last announcement we are making to the NGOs,” insisted the sheikh.
Al-Shabaab, the strongest anti-government Islamist group in Somalia, does not generally insist on the registration of the NGOs. Its officials, however, consider the NGOs’ operations unIslamic; hence the general tension between al-Shabaab, the civil society and the international NGOs.
Source: Daily Nation, Oct 12, 2009