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Somali tied to Islamists worked with two U.N. agencies

12 March 2010 02:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. A Somali businessman, who has been linked to Islamist militants and may have pocketed ransom money paid for the release of kidnapped French aid workers, has been a contractor for the World Food Program and UNICEF, a U.N. report said, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.

The 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 belonging to Luway at a money transfer firm in Baidoa, Somalia, the report said.
"A prominent businessman, 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 United Nations, Luway had been the "local financier" of the al Shabaab authority in Baidoa since the Islamist group took control the area in January 2009. He 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.