Remarks Made By Dr. Saad Noor At The Washington Post’s Debate On The Islamic Courts And Their Possible Influence In The Horn Region Of Africa.

The Courts

The issue of the Islamic courts and their impact on the area, whether they are going to be for good or bad, is a mixed one. On the one hand, if there is any indication bout what the courts have done, it lies in their relative success, thus far, in having at least some semblance of peace on the streets of Mogadishu, the former capital of the now defunct Somali Democratic Republic.

On the other hand, as far as many well informed regional observers and the government of Somaliland are concerned, the courts, do pose an unmistakable strategic threat to the Horn of Africa region, parts of the Arabian Peninsula and the Red See basin. This is because they don’t hide their belief in professing the emergence of an Islamic Republic, ala Taliban, which is expected to be called the Islamic Republic of Somalia.

As such, they definitely do not recognize the boundaries inherited from colonial administrations in the region. Nor do they see the validity of any kind of a legal separation between the Somali-speaking communities in the Horn no matter under which flag they live in including that of Somaliland. Thus Somaliland’s freestanding status and the sovereignties of the countries with large Somali populations over their Somali citizens and the areas they inhabit are not recognized by the courts.

Moreover, they see the Koran as the divine constitution of that Republic and anyone, who disagrees, is viewed as anti-Islam and a stooge of the West. In this vein, they consider the toppling of the two major secular republics in the Horn, Ethiopia and Kenya, a strategic necessity so as to declare the whole Horn an Islamic gateway to the Eastern and Central heartland of the continent. Somaliland’s fate will not be any different for they loathe it for being a liberal secular democracy with a constitution though its philosophical and spiritual underpinnings are predicated on the sprit and the fundamentals of Islamic culture and jurisprudence. It is nevertheless a civilian constitution with civilian courts like those in Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Based on the foregoing, the Courts’ ideology and political posture can only be seen as precursor for instability in the region. It may create a situation where the Horn could become a flaming theater for clashes to come between the forces of moderation and religious extremism.

Needless to say that the primacy of the Courts, particularly if as expected they hook up with Islamists in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, would also be a threat on the Arabian Peninsula and international water ways such as the Gulf of Aden and the strategic Red Sea entrance at Bab Al Mandeb as well as the contiguous Arabian Sea. Most international petroleum shipments pass through those strategic water ways.

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG)

On the other side of the equation—in Somalia—Stands a dwarfed entity the (TFG) which was created by the international community through a group of Warlords and an assortment of unknown political hobos in Nairobi, Kenya. Led by an aging military dictator of ill reputation and debilitated by internal dissention, it has become a lonely prisoner in the remote town of Baydhawa in north western Somalia. It certainly is no match for courts because it commands neither popular support nor influence. As such, prognoses for its survival is not encouraging to say the least.

Seasoned political observers believe that apart from its structural problems and its other destabilizing imbalances, the TFG’s basic problems lie in its week strategic planning and indeed its poor political acumen. They lament the TFG’s failure to capitalize on its secular outlook and forge solid relationship with Somaliland, the only functioning secular democracy in the Somali speaking region of the Horn, because it has failed to drop and indeed go beyond its unrealistic rhetoric for the reincarnation of an impracticable Somali unity.

The way forward

In the interest of peace and tranquility in the region, the international community, including Ethiopia and Kenya, should come to the inevitable conclusion that the time is ripe for taking a bold action to solve the Somali problem. The basis of this action/policy should be the containment of the spread of Islamic extremism personified by the Courts as a matter of priority. The best and the most effective way for the operationalization of this policy is to first recognize the Republic of Somaliland. Somaliland will then shoulder the responsibility of serving as the bulwark for strengthening the fledgling secular forces in Somalia until the desired balance is attained for the creation of a functional moderate and representative entity in Somalia. Failing that will be a recipe for disaster and a harbinger of calamities to come.

Source: Washington Post

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives