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The following are excerpts from an interview with Professor Ibrahim Nasr Al-Din of the Institute of African Research, Cairo University. The interview aired on Al-Jazeera TV on December 25, 2009.
Ibrahim Nasr Al-Din: Historically, there has been Israeli influence in Ethiopia, and in north Uganda, which borders with Sudan. One should understand that north Uganda is a poor and vulnerable region, and that since the country’s independence, no government has been able to control this region.
In this region, you have the Holy Spirit Movement, and the Lord’s Resistance Army is part of this movement. This is a fundamentalist Christian organization, whose favorite pastime is to kill women and children in scores, and to implement a policy of scorched earth, and which is connected to Israel. Historically, this has been a region of Israeli influence – since the independence of Uganda. North Uganda is the largest center for the sale of weapons. There is also Kenya – an important center for the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency.
So you have south Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, and if you add Kenya… Then you have the so-called piracy off the Somali coast – this is not really piracy according to its definition in international law… I wrote that…
Interviewer: I have read that you believe the piracy is connected to Israel.
Ibrahim Nasr Al-Din: It is connected to Israel and the US.
Interviewer: [You wrote] that the US paid $100,000 to any Somali involved in piracy. Where did you get this information?
Ibrahim Nasr Al-Din: My sources are confidential. The so-called pirates are at the Dinghy Café in the port of Eyl, in the Puntland region, and any small commando squad could easily put an end to this.