Using surrogate associates, the notorious axe man and blackmailer Dahir Abdulle Alasow of waagacusub.com, waagacusub.org, waagacusub.net, sunatimes.com, Somalilanders.com – and a number of other impromptu websites and media outlets, once more resorts to desperate tactics against his latest target the giant Somali remittance company – Dahabshiil – by publishing fabricated, date-changed list of accounts that he used some years back against the company.
It was indeed very easy to verify that the lists were exactly those he released in 2012 except for two things: the date which he replaced 2012 for 2014, and very minute, negligible touches he made to a few accounts for the sake of argument.
The publication did not even remotely affect the flow of and/or loyalties of the immensely popular Somali company that has managed to establish a foolproof network of competent agents and partners around the globe.
By doing so, experts agree, the man only managed to tighten some more a legal noose already hanging around his neck. To prevent him from jumping cordon, Dutch intelligence is keeping a close eye on all his movements documenting them for use against him once the New Year holidays come to an end.
Wanton Tears
Following a court ruling against the self-proclaimed journalist and ex-checkpoint killer of Mogadishu, that restrained him against continued attacks targeting Dahabshiil, the man hit the bottle heavily, to – obviously – gather courage for a self-recorded lamentation meant for the YouTube. During the taping, the man repeats himself and so brazenly makes all kinds of accusations against the company – that will be certainly used against him in an upcoming Breda court. The man shows, also, signs of inebriety that by itself bespeaks volumes.
The man, Mogadishu would tell you, has neither a past nor a future to look to as he was brought up as an illegitimate cast-away baby at an orphanage near Mogadishu. He has to decide until very recently who he wanted to be , or what he should be known as henceforth – name, clan lineage from both sides, etc.
Blackmailer Tactics
In order to keep a steady inflow of information (tidbits, conjectures, fabrications, etc.) against his blackmail ‘victims’ going, the pseudo-journalist uses a wide network of informers that he retains using a number of tactics, depending on the nature of the retained, according to people who know him very well. The man, experts say, is only true to his fathomless greed.
Among these are, they say: (1) Photos and recorded speech that show drunken slurs and slips of speech that he indexes and files for later use; (2) threats of exposure to closet homosexuals like himself among the ranks of young, upcoming ‘journalists’; (3) promise of material gains; (4) oaths of allegiance as an informant, especially to foreign intelligence operatives and writers; and, lastly, (5) the use of dubious, international-like ‘news blogs’ that heavily depend on him for damning innuendos for lack of better sources. Usually these blogs are run by former underworld characters such as Kenneth Rijok, the former lawyer-turned-money launderer of MoneyJihad.
Telltale Signs
A man’s character is in his poise, or so history teaches.
Looking closely at him, a former associate of his told me, one cannot escape noticing the following peculiarities in the man and his movements: (a) the limp, fluttering hands during interviews and taped harangues he uploads on YouTube that betray his closet bi-sexuality; (2) Blank stares and long pauses during interviews indicate recurring images of past follies and constantly recall a dark past that hit him hard constantly for attention; (3) Bravado and muchacho-like postures (sitting forward, chopping hand-gestures, etc) convey haunting insecurity; (4) uncomfortably and continually crossing leg and uncrossing them show his shallowness of character and pretentious claims.
The bulk of the Somali media practitioners – and, in fact, all honest, hard-working East African journalists, accuses the man of vilifying the practice of professional, ethical journalism.
By Tedessa Haile-Mariam
Journalism Student, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
