Thread by @althecat

Before he was abducted 3 days ago in broad daylight in downtown Nairobi, @AbdiwahabSheik7 an analyst of EAC affairs and frequent contributor of erudite critiques of the TPLF warned that he was being targetted by SAHAN research, an private intel organisation led by @dibjir.

https://twitter.com/AbdiwahabSheik7/status/1417408770217500682

Matt Bryden, aka @Dibjir's @SahanResearch works closely with the TPLF, including this IV which telegraphed TPLF's intentions to attack Afar in an effort to close the Djibouti, Addis transport route and choke off supply routes to the Ethiopian Capital. theelephant.info/videos/2021/07…

@Dibjir @SahanResearch Sahan is based in Nairobi, where it reputedly has a fairly large operation involved in support of the TPLF Misinformation/Disinformation operations around its war of secession in Tigray.

Yesterday the kidnapping was reported on Kenyan TV.

https://twitter.com/Hajishire/status/1436091296255561729?s=20

Thread from late July with additional background on Bryden, @SahanResearch, its social media specialist @RAbdiAnalyst and a breakdown of @Dibjir's July 23rd interview which took place eight days after the TPLF's offensive began in Afar and Amhara regions.

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1420061509271670787?s=20

Earlier today after I started looking into @AbdiwahabSheik7's abduction, I received a startling response from @RationalXi an account closely associated with a rather peculiar website which popped up recently with a unique take on the conflict in Ethiopia run by @GPEditor.

The exchange was entertaining and lively, began with threats, and can be seen here >>

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1436252922925527056?s=20

And several aspects of @RationalXi's strongly held views (he/she says she is Kenyan) link back to @SahanResearch.

Kenyan police have denied any involvement in @AbdiwahabSheik7's abduction, but @RationalXi claims he is a terrorist and asserts that raising questions about the abduction amount to an attack on Kenya's war on terror activities via AMISOM - amisom-au.org.

This relates to @SahanResearch because after being sacked by the UN, Matt Bryden @Dibjir the boss of SAHAN found himself a gig as an official observer of the AMISOM mission. Whilst in this position he appears to have behaved in a corrupt fashion and was eventually removed.

@SahanResearch @Dibjir In early August when the TPLF offensive in Afar and Amhara was near its peak the Somali Star published a piece about Bryden explaining all of this calling him a "warlord" and making lurid allegations about him.

https://twitter.com/SomaliStarPost/status/1422423599143473158?s=20

Prominent among Matt Bryden's many critics was @AbdiwahabSheik7, who appears twice in the piece.

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1436233385094045698?s=20

@AbdiwahabSheik7 OK so back to @RationalXi, who as you recall seems to believe that the seemingly fairly mild mannered, but outspoken Professor @AbdiwahabSheik7 is a terrorist.

It seems that @RationalXi also thinks (like @reda_getachew) that TPLF is about to win the war.

@AbdiwahabSheik7 @RationalXi @reda_getachew And finally the quixotic @RationalXi also seems to think that AMISOM is under attack, from Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia and that it is Kenya's job to save it, presumably by arresting Kenya's most arresting/able TPLF critic @AbdiwahabSheik7.

Now ordinarily one might conclude that @RationalXi is just a mad-person. And clearly he/she is, another keyboard misinfo warrior. But if he/she is connected to SAHAN that's a different matter.

SAHAN is operating a large private intel misinformation business in Nairobi.

It's been doing so for a long time, and may in fact be influential enough to have convinced the Govt of Kenya to arrest @AbdiwahabSheik7, or turn a blind eye to his abduction. Given Nairobi police's claims to not be involved, motive, means and opportunity now point towards them.

The connection between @RationalXi and SAHAN is more tenuous. But that is the final point I will make. And it relates to a rather peculiar misinformation website, which popped up on July 15th, the day the TPLF launched its Amhara/Afar offensive.

geopolitics.press

The anonymous site's premise was that it was run by experts on hybrid warfare and that they were on Ethiopia's side, here to help. They explained the methods of the CIA, coined a thing called #C2FC, and quickly became quite popular in Ethiopian Govt. circles.

The site hinted at possibly being Chinese, or China supported and praised China, hence the existence of the closely associated @RationalXi twitter account.

But over time it changed. Became increasingly unhinged.

In doing so it has fallen out of favour in Ethiopia. And it looks as if it has moved the focus of its narrative manipulation efforts in the direction of Kenya.

A milestone in the demise of the website took place 28th August with publication of a purported interview with a "friend and professional acquaintance who has worked with American and British governments, and currently works in Kenya." geopolitics.press/conversation-t…

It's way too long and confusing to read, though I did as people were asking about it. The alleged interviewee recounts a nightmarish vision of EU, and US intentions in the Horn of Africa.

But many noticed that the alleged diplomats views seem to exactly align with the views of SAHAN intelligence, and its boss @Dibjir and chief propagandst @RAbdiAnalyst. It would be interesting to know what the EU's @eu_eeas thinks of it. [NOTE: There are rumours they fund Sahan.]

In conclusion I would ask that @DCI_Kenya take @AbdiwahabSheik7's tweet warning about his being a target of SAHAN, a shadowy private intelligence firm which appears to be working closely with a designated terrorist group operating in Ethiopia.

And I would also ask @berhe_lucy, who is allegedly in Nairobi to take a look at this, along with the rest of the Nairobi based Tigray reporting corps, and for @NimaElbagir and @JakeTapper of @CNN to think a bit about what forms of journalism really are dangerous in the #HOA.

/ends

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