President Rayale Said To Be Behind A Criminal Action Brought Against Haatuf Newspaper

Hargeysa, Somaliland, September 23, 2006 (SL Times) – There is a growing evidence that Somaliland president Dahir Rayale Kahin has been behind a legal action brought earlier this week against the Haatuf newspaper by the secretary of the Somaliland House of Elders (Guurti) Mr. Abdillahi Ibrahim Habane better known as Abdillahi Dhere.

One September 20, 2006, Abdillahi Dhere had formally requested Attorney General Hussein A. Ghalib to arrange an investigation of Haatuf newspaper for publishing on September 18 an article in which the secretary of the Guurti, president Rayale and some unidentified members of the upper house were said to have been involved in a campaign aimed at removing the chairman of the Guurti Suleiman Mahmoud Adan from his post.

The Haatuf story revealed that president Rayale was using Elders from his Awdal region and Abdillahi Dhere, also an Awdalite, for bargaining with legislators from other regions in order to secure sufficient votes for replacing chairman Suleiman with another person who could be more cooperative.

Though both Rayale and Suleiman belonged to the same UDUB party, however according to the Haatuf report, the president in fact placed little trust in the current chairman of the Guurti’s support.

With the opposition already in control of the lower house, Haatuf claimed that Mr. Rayale seemed desperate to get rid of the Guurti leader.

The reported cited an incident in which a mosque was used as a meeting place between the president’s men and one legislator. According to the story, money was offered for buying votes.

In a follow up article published on the next day, Haatuf had interviewed Elder Ahmed Muhumed Obsiye to ask him whether he was part of the government’s plan to unseat Suleiman M. Adan. Obsiye admitted that the issue existed but denied it was instigated by the president. He also disclosed that he could be a potential candidate for chairmanship of the Guurti.

The revelations sent members of the president’s team running for cover. Guurti leaders tried to talk Abdillahi Dhere out of taking legal action against Haatuf. But the secretary who is not even a member of the Guurti insisted on filing a complaint.

On September 20, Abdillahi Dhere held an unauthorized press conference in which he blasted Haatuf for ruining national unity.

Shortly after the press conference Abdillahi disclosed to a number of his friends that the president was so upset about the press leakage that he wanted him to sue Haatuf.