The Consequences of the Assassination Attempt Against President Rayale

There is no doubt that Somalilanders have been shocked and outraged by last Saturday’s assassination attempt against their president, Dahir Rayale Kahin, in Las-Anod. But those who have closely known Puntland’s warlord Abdillahi Yusuf, must have been not surprised to learn that he was the man behind this cowardly attempt. As chairman of the SSDF in the eighties, he personally ordered the silencing of hundreds of voices that criticized his dictatorial methods in running the organization (founded in 1980 to liberate the then Somalia from Siyad Barre’s totalitarian regime) through physical eliminations. One of the most well-known assassination operations that he masterminded in those days took place when Abdirahman Eideed, a leading SSDF dissident, was gunned down in broad day-light in Dire-Dawa, Ethiopia, on Oct 17, 1984.

Although he enjoyed at the time huge military and financial aid annually from Col Qadafi, the SSDF eventually collapsed in Abdillahi Yusuf’s own hands, with most of its rank and file reluctantly surrendering to the enemy (Siyad Barre’s Government).

Warlord Abdillahi Yusuf has a well-established track-record as a power-maniac who believes that people’s support and obedience can be won through repressive policies, plenty of money and political backing from a much stronger foreign sponsor. That is why he has failed to gain the support or respect of those he claims to rule. In his crazy pursuit of power, he has imposed a reign of terror on his own people in the Puntland regional state of the former Italian Somalia. After crushing the voices of democracy and jailing human rights activists, thousands of dissidents have been forced to flee their homes and seek safe havens in neighboring countries and abroad.

A lot of people in the region believe that, had it not been for the external support and encouragement he has been getting, Abdillahi Yusuf couldn’t have waged his adventures against his own people or against Somaliland. The warlord's latest ploy for getting external support is by posing as a committed ally in the efforts to rid the region of terrorist networks and activities. But what is disgusting is to see him getting the attention and cooperation of countries that have been victims of terrorism. How can a ruthless warlord who practices local terrorism be trusted or relied upon in the war against international terrorism? Isn’t he helping establish the breeding grounds for tomorrow’s terrorists?

Abdillahi Yusuf is also embarking on the dangerous road of Somali irredentism. By laying claims at present to territories within the boundaries of Somaliland and places as far as Kismayo, simply on the basis of clan ties, the warlord is set on destabilizing the whole region. Of course Somaliland will never accept his irrational demands. It will not be, as well, in the interest of our immediate neighbors, particularly Ethiopia, to miss the implications involved with regard to the ideology of seeking sovereignty over territories in other regions or countries based on clan ties. Tolerating, or giving the impression of tolerating this concept, will not be in the interest of the Horn of Africa region. It will not be in the interest of the US government either to associate itself with a ruthless dictator, even on a temporary basis. As for Somaliland, President Rayale has summed it up well when he said, "We will not be guided by emotions but we must study all our options and get prepared to respond adequately. In the meantime, I ask the electorate to cast their votes peacefully in the coming elections."

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