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Ahmed Ali Ibrahim (Sabeyse), Scarborough, Canada
The protracted and often acrimonious proceedings of the 14th Somali
peace and reconciliation conference at Mbagathi, Kenya, are finally
winding down to its eventual fait accompli. Twenty months into the
making, the stark reality facing Walaweynian Somalis is another
failed attempt at peace making- not any different than the thirteen
previous conferences. The international community and the regional
governments provided both the moral and material support to bring
back some semblance of human civility to the chaos of Walaweynian
Somalia.
Unfortunately, the parties to the conflict don’t have the ethical and
moral integrity and/or the credibility to engage themselves in a
genuine and sincere dialogue to settle their dispute at the
negotiating table. The failure of all these never-ending conferences
are basically the culture of the society. It is a culture that
rejects any sense of responsibility for its behavior. The irony is:
The architects who engineered the demise of the old Somali are
negotiating to resurrect a new nation from the ashes of the old one!
THE AFTERMATH OF ARTA FIASCO:
The undeclared agenda of the Arta peace conference of 2000 was based
on a rather erroneous political gamble based on the premise that if
the Hawiye, according to Salad Qassim's contention, is granted the
position of life-time presidency, the rest of the Somali clans will
immediately fall in line and the Somali conflict will be over within
months. Off course, that was a very naive and short-sighted
miscalculation by the new elder statesman of the region. Four years
later, Salad Qassim has proven himself to be a character of no
credibility with his own Hawiye clan.
The rest of Southern community withheld their support and
collaboration with Mr. Qassim's made in Djibouti transitional
national government. That is why Mr. Qassim's administration is
confined to mere 1km by 1.235km area in north Mogadiscio. What it
boils down to the fact that the man lacks the basic credentials to
run a modern nation state.
THE PRELUDE TO THE 15TH PEACE CONVENTION:
To shore up the sagging fortunes of the Mbagathi convention, Mr.
Abdulrezak Haji Hussein and his sidekick offered the former of the
Somali National Movement the presidency of upcoming Somali state. The
objective was to create suspicion, uncertainty, and chaos in
Somaliland. Once that attempt has backfired, the former Prime
Minister has set his real intentions in motion. In a recent article,
Mr. Abdulrezak wrote, " The Darood and the Hawiye clans should
relinquish the position of the presidency and the office of the prime
minister in favor of other clans." On the surface, it is a
categorical admission that the root cause of the current quagmire in
Southern Somalia, as well as the ultimate failure of the Somali
state, has been mainly due to the irreconcilable and always
antagonistic political ambitions of the said two communities. A
coronation of sorts, shall we say, for some at the twilight of his
political dreams and a point for political pundits and historians to
ponder for years to come.
However, the flip side of the ex-prime minister's statement is a
carefully well-timed prelude to a much sinister and a far reaching
hidden agenda. The corollary to Abdulrezak's article is this: "THE
RIVALARY BETWEEN OUR TWO COMMUNITIES HAS FAILED TO ACCOMODATE EACH
OTHER; LET US ENTICE THE ISAQ GROUP TO ACT AS BULWARK BETWEEN US; LET
US EXPLORE THIS OPTION FOR THE LAST TIME."
This article has definitely refocused the disarrayed and hapless
Somali pseudo-politicians. It surely has revitalized the moribund
quasi-intellectual communities with an unprecedented sense of duty
and responsibility towards the suffering and the agony of the Somali
PEOPLE. This new found dose of latent energy is reawakening the
hypernating Greater Somalia dream. The hordes of people heading for
Mogadiscio these days are a direct response to this bold new
initiative from the former prime minister. The message has really
struck a raw nerve.
To evade and avoid the suspicion and wrath of the regional neighbors,
this new masquerade is camouflaged and billed as the beginning of a
new constructive DIALOGUE initially between Somaliland and Somalia.
This process will be eventually expanded delegates from the Northern
Frontier District of Kenya, the Eastern Hararghe region of Ethiopia,
and the Republic of Djibouti. The Arab League ( via the Egyptian
government) is the financial backer of this new radical initiative.
This idea has been circulating around for a while. Now, it is gaining
urgency as well as momentum simultaneously and it is intended to
break the cycle of missed opportunities.
The aim and the sole objective of this new dispensation is to short
-circuit Somaliland's rendezvous with its manifest destiny. The
destiny to chart our own course regardless of the wishful dreams of
our southern neighbors. Walaweynian Somalis will go to any extreme to
blame their incompetence on the absence of Somaliland from the
negotiating table.
TO OUR WALAWEYNIAN NEIGHBOURS TO THE SOUTH I SHALL SAY: THE DRUMBEAT
OF THE SANCTITY OF SOMALI UNITY IS RESONATING PERIODICALLY ACROSS THE
LANDSCAPE. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE STILL LOOKING FOR THE HOLY GRAIL
OR KING SOLOMON’S RING, THE SEARCH IS GRADUALLY WINDING DOWN TO EMPTY
HANDEDNESS ON BOTH COUNTS. THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO RECKON WITH:
Why did the Somali state failed in the first place? Who is
responsible for this failure? Siad Barre alone is the not the
culprit. Those who promoted him to become the Commander-in-chief Of
the armed forces and later encouraged him to overthrow the civilian
government, are equally responsible as well.
SL Websites Ignore Forum's Press Releases
Ali Gulaid, San Jose, California. USA
T
he campaign to articulate Somaliland's position and give it maximum
exposure is a campaign that this ARDAA has attempted hard to advance
but while this ARDAA had some success with the former, the latter
remains as elusive as ever due to several factors.
The foreign media considers the Forum's releases an opinion and not
newsworthy and that is why it might be necessary to buy a space at
some targeted media at times but the more distressing one is that
even the Somaliland websites such as AWDAL and Hadhwanaag opt not to
carry the Forum press releases. For example, within the last week the
Forum has released two but these two websites and others like Hiiraan
and Somaliweyn have chosen not to post the releases and I find that
hard to believe. I assure you that both have received the releases
and that forced me to conclude that they have both made a deliberate
decision of not to post.
It isn't secret that Awdal and to a lesser extend Hadhwanaag don't
post anything they consider anti-government or is unsympathetic to it
but the last two releases, one in English, one in Somali were
non-controversial, advocating Somaliland's position on Mbagathi
conference.
On the surface, the position of the two websites seems bizarre but
beneath the surface it isn't so bizarre after all. Their position is
aligned with the Administration's position, which has banned civil
society to debate on crucial issues. That explains.
In case you were wondering what was so important that these two
websites were covering, here is some of what they had on the 1st
page. Awdal news as usual have relayed the IRIN's view on the
Mbagathi conference and how it is winding down to a successful
conclusion while Hadhwanaag was alerting its readers how others are
conniving for the ousting of the beloved minister, her Excellency Ms.
Edna Adan. It is ok to defend a besieged Minister but they could have
lended similar coverage to the cause of Somaliland. I guess
Hadhwanaag's pro-government DAYS are NUMBERED. Keep watching.
I hope it wouldn't come to the point where the Forum has to negotiate
buying space from the websites operated by Somalilanders to publicize
Somaliland's case like the foreign media.
For your information I have poted this on the Forum -Ardaa
Regards,
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