76. In a separate development, a Mogadishu businessman named Abdinur Ahmed Darman, imported military uniforms from Pakistan via Dubai to Somalia. Darman is known not as a faction leader, but rather as a facilitator for contracts for foreign companies seeking access to Somalia’s natural resources who has also been involved in the printing of fake Somali shilling. In July 2003 Darman raised his own militia in Mogadishu where he staged a big rally in which he declared himself to be the President of Somalia. The rally was covered by the media network Al Jazeera, whose footage has since been advanced to support Darman’s claim to Somalia’s highest office. To complete his transformation, Darman opened an email account with the address ‘[email protected]’.
