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Djibouti spying on the project Somali and regional countries ?
Why are these issues?
Djibouti(ANN)-Tensions between the United States and Djibouti have escalated, with investigations into illegal weapons and spying and money laundering linked to the small country of Djibouti prompting the United States to send in CIA experts.
According to several international media and newspapers, such as NYT Haretz, the CIA arranged and paid in 2018 for the Djibouti government to acquire NSO’s Pegasus spyware to help its ally in the fight against terrorism, despite long-standing concerns about human rights abuses in the tiny Horn of Africa country, including the persecution of journalists, social media activists, torture and the killings of government opponents.
Related: Zim general warns on foreign bases in Djibouti
Also according to these media, in 2019 the Federal Bureau of Investigation paid millions of dollars to the ONS to test Phantom which is an adapted version of Pegasus software, the notorious spyware from NSO which offers customers full access to phones.
Targeted via links in highly personalized phishing messages in WhatsApp, iMessage and Android. The move by the FBI sparked years of debate between the agency and the Justice Department over the legality of such surveillance. Last summer, the agency decided not to roll out Pegasus or Phantom, according to the Times account.
Related: Djibouti: Visit of the President of Puntland State of Somalia and Secret Issues
An FBI spokeswoman told The Times that the law enforcement agency is looking into new technologies “not only to explore potential legal use, but also to fight crime and to protect both the American people and our civil liberties.” In particular by examining” the, possible operational and security problems they could pose if it is in the wrong hands ”.
A spokesman for the Djiboutian government told the media that the government had never used Pegasus, but in 2019, one of the opposition figures, Hassan Cher Hared, living in Switzerland, was one of the victims of Pegasus. by hacking his computer. (File MN ° 20. 08.2019 / erb).
Related: The trade of illegal weapons implicates senior government officials in Djibouti – Report
News and sources related to the incident also say, citing sources close to the Djiboutian security services, that the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo, is one of the main targets of Djiboutian intelligence,
but all Somali leaders and other businessmen. Or regional ones and even journalists have been used in this case, using Djibouti’s intelligence using the same, Pegasus spyware.
The report added that the current stand-off between the United States and Djibouti has worsened after Sheikh Abdulkadir Mumin, the imam of the ISIS group in the Galgala Mountains on the outskirts of Bossaso, Somalia, was treated in May 2019, Djibouti. The authorization Ismail Omar Guelleh and on the other hand, the Djibouti an administration says it is fighting terrorist groups in Somalia.
In recent months, President Joe Biden has sent a team of US intelligence experts to Djibouti.
A team of 25 investigators from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) led by the third head of the agency, arrived in Djibouti on August 8, 2021.
This team’s mission is to investigate regional arms trafficking from Djibouti, money laundering, Djibouti’s interference in the affairs of neighboring states (Somalia and Ethiopia) as well as the recent massacre of Afar civilians in Warabaleh, PK12 and Arhiba.
The outcome of the group’s meetings with the CIA’s third-in-command and meetings with President Guelleh and other military officials in various conferences and interviews.
Stay tuned for more updates on the outcome of these meetings.
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By Arraale M Jama Freelance Journalist and Human Rights activist.
Araweelo News Network.
info@araweelonews.com