Latest update: 27/09/2013
- Africa <http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-th%C3%A9matiques/africa>-
elephant<http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-th%C3%A9matiques/elephant>-
Ivory <http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-th%C3%A9matiques/ivory> - Ivory
trade<http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-th%C3%A9matiques/ivory-trade>-
Poaching<http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-th%C3%A9matiques/poaching>-
wildlife
trade<http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-th%C3%A9matiques/wildlife-trade>
Poaching funds Somalia's al Shabaab, activists say
[image: Poaching funds Somalia's al Shabaab, activists say]
© Photo: AFP
Somalia’s al Shabaab militia, responsible for the Westgate mall siege in
Nairobi, is being partly financed by the illegal ivory trade, a wildlife
group said Thursday. The trade could be supplying up to 40% of the Islamist
group’s funds.
By FRANCE 24 <http://www.france24.com/en/category/tags-auteurs/france-24>(text)
Somalia's al Shabaab militia, which carried out a deadly
attack<http://www.france24.com/en/20130924-global-jihad-nairobi-mumbai-al-qaeda>on
Nairobi's Westgate mall, is partly funded by the poaching trade,
wildlife activists said Thursday.
"Over the last 18 months, we've been investigating the involvement of al
Shabaab in trafficking ivory through Kenya," Andrea Crosta, executive
director of the Elephant Action League told Agence France-Presse.
The trade “could be supplying up to 40 percent of the funds needed to keep
them in business," Crosta said, though she specified that al Shabaab are
not involved in the actual killing of elephants or rhinos.
The Islamist group has been the centre of attention after claiming
responsibility for a four-day siege
<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-nairobi-mall-siege-over-but-questions-persist-kenya-westgate-police>at
the Westgate Mall in Nairobi which left scores people dead by the time it
ended Tuesday.
The Elephant Action League added that there has been evidence of ties
between the poaching trade and militant groups like Uganda’s Lord’s
Resistance Army or Darfur’s Janjaweed, cited in a UN report published in
May.
Activists hope that emphasizing the links between groups that commit
violence and the illicit trade may encourage governments to crack down on
the practice.
"We're asking the international community to start considering all the
ivory (and rhino horn) trade's stakeholders, ivory consumers, ivory shops
and even governments, de-facto accessories to manslaughter, human
exploitation and even terrorism," Crosta said.
*Illegal ivory trade driven by Asia and Middle East*
According to sources within al Shabaab, one to three tons of ivory pass
through the ports in southern Somalia every month, sold for an estimated
$200 per kilo.
Al Shabaab's ability to profit off the trade was undermined when it lost
control of southern ports in Kismayo and Merca, but the group still
controls other hubs.
The illegal ivory trade, worth roughly between $7 billion and $10 billion
(5.37 and 7.67 billion euros) a year, is mostly driven by demand in Asia
(particularly China and Thailand) and the Middle East, where elephant tusks
and rhino horns are used in traditional medicine and to make ornaments.
Ivory trade has been banned under the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1990.
But animal rights groups estimate that poachers in Africa kill between
25,000 and 35,000 elephants annually.
*(FRANCE 24 with wires)*
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- [image: Somalis in Kenya fear backlash after Westgate
siege]<http://www.france24.com/en/20130927-somalis-kenya-fear-backlash-after-westgate-siege><http://www.france24.com/en/20130927-somalis-kenya-fear-backlash-after-westgate-siege>
KENYA
Somalis in Kenya fear backlash after Westgate siege
<http://www.france24.com/en/20130927-somalis-kenya-fear-backlash-after-westgate-siege>
- [image: Interpol issues 'White Widow' alert at Kenya's
request]<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-interpol-arrest-wanted-white-widow-nairobi><http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-interpol-arrest-wanted-white-widow-nairobi>
KENYA
Interpol issues 'White Widow' alert at Kenya's request
<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-interpol-arrest-wanted-white-widow-nairobi>
- [image: Tough questions for Kenyan authorities after mall
siege]<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-nairobi-mall-siege-over-but-questions-persist-kenya-westgate-police><http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-nairobi-mall-siege-over-but-questions-persist-kenya-westgate-police>
KENYA
Tough questions for Kenyan authorities after mall siege
<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-nairobi-mall-siege-over-but-questions-persist-kenya-westgate-police>
Date created : 27/09/2013
Read more
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AFRICA
Changing the constitution to remain in
power<http://www.france24.com/en/20091023-changing-constitution-remain-power>
- [image: Exclusive report: Central African Republic descends into
chaos]<http://www.france24.com/en/20130927-reporters-exclusive-report-hell-rages-in-central-african-republic-bossangoa-seleka-rebels-clashes-fomac>
REPORTERS
Exclusive report: Central African Republic descends into
chaos<http://www.france24.com/en/20130927-reporters-exclusive-report-hell-rages-in-central-african-republic-bossangoa-seleka-rebels-clashes-fomac>
- [image: Chaos in the Central African Republic (part
2)]<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-debate-part-2-central-african-republic-djotodia-violence-seleka-bozize>
The Debate
Chaos in the Central African Republic (part
2)<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-debate-part-2-central-african-republic-djotodia-violence-seleka-bozize>
- [image: Chaos in the Central African
Republic]<http://www.france24.com/en/20130926-debate-part-1-central-african-republic-djotodia-violence-seleka-bozize>
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