ABU DHABI, UAE, Feb 24, 2007 – Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ismail Mohammed Hurre today denied that Somalia was developing into another Iraq. Even as news reports were coming in of mortar attacks at Mogadishu airport and escalating guerrilla attacks against Ethiopian forces and Somali government personnel, Hurre, commonly known as Buubaa, said: “ Somalia is not Iraq, not at all. Facts are very different, the Somali situation is very different from that of Iraq, and so I think that is more of an exaggeration than a reality.”

Talking to Bashir Goth, editor of Awdalnews Network, on Friday, 23 February 2007, while wrapping up a few days visit to Abu Dhabi as part of his government’s efforts to secure financial support for the UN approved African Peacekeeping Force for Somalia and for the reconstruction of the country, Ismail Buubaa, rejected the idea of accommodating members of the vanquished Islamic Courts in the Transitional Federal Government, TFG.

“We cannot take them as bedfellows,” he said, adding “They are utterly against democratic and stable Somalia, they are opting for an international Islamist vision that bears no resemblance to reality in this world. And we think we have to eliminate them.”

He affirmed that even Americans had realized that certain elements they thought were moderate and could be accommodated were not moderate at all.

He pointed out that the people of Somaliland should take part in the reconciliation congress that his government was going to hold and argue the validity of their case there. He added that countries in the region would not recognize Somaliland because any fragmentation of Somalia would be very dangerous for the security of the whole region.

Expressing his belief that Somaliland secession will collapse once the security situation improves in Southern Somalia, Ismail Buubaa, himself hailing from Somaliland, said: “Once peace is consolidated in Southern Somalia and the reconstruction process begins, Somaliland people will move in their thousands to Mogadishu and Hargeisa will become a ghost town.”

Ismail Buubaa said that the government would soon put a new forgery proof Somali passport into circulation. In reference to Somaliland passports in which Somaliland officials travel, Isamil Buubaa said that the new passport would represent the national sovereignty and would be the only recognized national travel document.

He pointed out that his government would not accept the media to spread false reports and incite trouble, saying: “False reporting and trying to incite trouble within the country will not be tolerated and we will take issues with whoever does.”

On reports that the TFG government has banned hijab, Isamil Buubaa said that his government was suspicious that terrorists might be hiding behind hijab to launch terrorist acts.

“We definitely would not like to see some terrorists trying to blow up some areas, hiding behind the hijab. But we believe it is the right for any woman to wear or not wear the hijab. We don’t ask people to take hijab or not to take hijab.”

On financial assistance, Ismail Buubaa said that UAE has come up with US$ 3 million and that the EU Commission was putting above 70 million euros into the fund, while the Americans, the British and others were working to raise money for the for the Peacekeeping forces.

“At the first stage of reconstruction we are looking into US$700 million but the reconstruction package will go into the billions,” he added.

Finally, he made an appeal to the Somali clans fighting in Daroor area, Somali region of Ethiopia, to stop the bloodshed and accept the mediation efforts of community elders.

Following is the full interview:

Mogadishu is sliding into anarchy, are you worried about the situation developing into another Iraq?

No, not at all. Facts are very different, the Somali situation is very different from that of Iraq, and so I think that is more of an exaggeration than a reality.

How much strong are the remnants of Islamists?

The Islamists have really been mauled and they are in very week position. But that doesn’t mean that they cannot do damage. They can do some damage and we have to be very careful and pursue a policy of getting rid of them. Something we find very suspicious is that some people are asking us to have Islamists as bedfellows. We cannot accept them as bedfellows because their intention is to eliminate anybody who doesn’t believe in their way. They are utterly against democratic and stable Somalia, they are opting for an international Islamist vision that bears no resemblance to reality in this world. And we think we have to eliminate them.

When do you expect the African forces will arrive?

The advance units of the African peacekeeping forces such as the Ugandan forces and Nigerian forces are ready and other forces from Brundi and others are being prepared. Countries as far as France have told us that they will take part in terms of preparing and making sure that these forces are effective. So we think that the African forces will come, however, I like to state a fact that in the final analysis it is the Somali forces that will really make a difference. We are actively pursuing that, putting our forces together and we want the coming African forces to help us train our military. We, therefore, would like to have Somali forces taking care of our security rather than depending on outside forces.

Do you have a timetable for the Ethiopian troops withdrawal? Some people doubt that Ethiopia would ever withdraw and fear of a situation like Lebanon where Syrian forces have stayed for 29 years.

No, I don’t think because the Somalia-Ethiopian relationship is different from the Syrian-Lebanese case, historical perspectives are very different. You cannot even think of a permanent or long term Ethiopian presence in Somalia. At the same time we have to be very careful not to create a security vacuum that would invite extremists to pour back into Somalia. We have to balance between these two, have the Ethiopian forces withdraw as quickly as possible and have the African forces come and replace them. We should also have the Somali forces trained and bear the burden of protecting the country. So we have to have a good balance of all these moves.

So do you think that some Ethiopian forces will still remain in Somalia even after the arrival of African forces?

Only the Military people can answer these details but from a conceptual point of view I could say yes, there could be African forces coming and Ethiopian forces withdrawing in stages. But as more African forces arrive, more Ethiopian forces will withdraw.

What financial support have you received until now? Do you have a system of transparency in place?

With respect to the financial assistance, European countries have been very helpful and we have the accountability through the UNDP. And as we create our own financial institutions we shall take care of our financial handling as long as the international assistance is concerned. Governments are beginning to contribute; the UAE has come up with US$ 3 million and we have given them a large package that we developed with the European Commission. The EU Commission are putting above 70 million euros into the fund, while the Americans, the British and others are putting money together for the Peacekeeping forces as well as the efficient running of the transitional federal government. So we are at the beginning of getting the financial system in place.

In this respect, I would like to point out that our priorities in this stage are mainly in four areas. First comes security followed by governance. It is well known that there will be no security without good governance and as you know the root causes of the Somali crisis resides in governance. The third one is governmental infrastructure or capacity building. We have to have financial and human resources capacity that can run and efficient administration. Fourth one is humanitarian as Somali people have bled for quite sometime. There has been a cycle of droughts, floods and violence which all had a negative impact on the Somali society and doing something about this is very important, particularly enabling the internally displaced people go back to their places of origin. We will start doing productive and gainful employment in various parts of the country. We will therefore concentrate on these four areas. We are not yet in the stage of reconstruction, which will need a fully functioning government and a solid security. At the first stage of reconstruction we are looking into US$700 million but the reconstruction package will go into the billions.

In all areas, however, our concentration in the first package will be on central and southern part of the country, from Galguduud to the Lower Juba. But within that period we also see there has to be some sort of peace dividend that should go to both Puntland and Somaliland in terms of strengthening the administrations, cleaning the cities, doing something about educational and health systems. But the bigger package will be addressing the developmental and reconstruction aspects.

Some analysts were baffled by the position of the Americans who helped you to defeat the Islamists, and later were pushing you to reconcile with the Islamists? How did you see this?

We didn’t see it that way. The Americans were very straightforward in terms of assisting us in the initial stage of doing something about the presence of Al Qaeda-based terrorist elements of the Islamic movement. However, I think there was confusion between Islamic courts and Islamic elements. Somalia is 100 percent Muslim and the clergy would have to play a role. These traditional clergy who do not subscribe to the Al Qaeda ideology or the hard line thinking that the Islamic courts were pursuing need to be accommodated. The National Charter in fact says that Islam is the basis of jurisprudence in the country. So we are accommodating these and this was exactly what the Americans aimed at. They didn’t want the government to be seen as anti-Islamic.

But the Americans held talks with Sheikh Sharif and tried to persuade the TFG to let him play a role in the reconciliation process?

They tried to include elements of the Islamic Courts and rule out the radical elements but they didn’t succeed. Sharif simply refused to make any statements renouncing violence. In fact he did the opposite. The Americans have requested him to renounce violence declare that he was coming to the fold of the TFG but he resisted and in fact made statements on Al Jazeera and BBC calling for Jihad.

I think the Americans came to the realization that certain elements they thought were moderate and could be persuaded to abandon their hard line ideology didn’t materialize.

On Somaliland, your government has stated on several occasions that Somaliland would attend the reconciliation conference; do you have contacts with the SL government?

We have contacts with Somaliland people. We are Somalis, we are from Somaliland and we have very close contacts and we discuss matters. We have made it very clear that our objection is to bring about stability in central and southern Somalia but we will work with Puntland and Somaliland in terms of maintaining stability and order. We would not do anything that could destabilize both these regions. Having said that we know some of the reasons that Somaliland talks about secession has something to do with Somali-Somali reality. The reconciliation we are talking about is giving an opportunity to Somalis to talk to one another, to be genuine with one another, to tell one another what they feel and what they think and how the Somali predicament can be overcome at the clan level, religious level, ideological level and many other levels. We want a genuine dialogue on issues between Somalis whether they are in Somaliland, Puntland or the rest of the country. It is in these terms we are taking about but we are not talking about political entities. But at a later stage when we bring peace and stability in the south then we will talk to Somaliland administration, Somaliland people, and traditional and religious leaders to find an amicable solution to the Somali predicament.

You have been personally quoted as saying that it is the interest of the Issaqs to live in united Somalia; do you mean that Somaliland secession is an Issaq project?

No it is not only an Issaq project but it is mainly an Issaq project. It is well known that the Dulbahante and Warsangeli are not all that enthusiastic about secession and the fact that Somaliland doesn’t have such cohesion, people from Sool and Sanaag may feel as long as succession is going on they may as well belong to Puntland. This is a fact. Another fact is that in Awdal region, people are not enthusiastic about succession either. We know that the backbone of the secession is within the Issaq and the facts that brought about this are well known. This is why we feel Somaliland people should talk during the reconciliation congress that we are going to hold. If some people believe in secession, they should come and say ‘look this is good for me and you’. Somalis should discuss the issue at social level and not take it to a political level.

Here is where we believe that the reconciliation congress would be a factor even for those who believe in secession.

Secondly, no one will force Somaliland to do anything and Somaliland should not force its people into accepting something they don’t want. Why Somaliland denies unionist Somalilanders to operate in Hargeisa, why can’t they be vocal about their political beliefs. I must tell you, once peace is consolidated in Southern Somalia and the reconstruction process begins, Somaliland people will move in their thousands to Mogadishu and Hargeisa will become a ghost town.

Media reports say that Arab countries have supported the Union of Islamic Courts? Do see any change in their position?

I don’t agree with that statement that Arab countries supported Islamic Courts. The majority of Arab countries support the legality of the TFG. There has been some sympathetic attitude from people in Arab countries. And it is well known that Al Qaeda has its own roots in many parts of the Arab world. On the leadership level only the Emir of Qatar had met the leaders of the Islamic Courts. There have been contacts between the Islamic Courts and Arabs on the intelligence level in an attempt to know what was happening in Somalia. On the grass roots level, however, the Islamists in many parts of the Arab world were helping and collecting money for the UIC and we know the trail of that money.

I know also Sudanese President Omar Al Beshir did meet the Islamists but within the framework of finding a solution for the Somali problem, but when Arab governments had realized that the Islamists were not interested in reconciliation and they wanted to topple the government, Arabs had turned away from them.

The Arabs have used their diplomatic weight to help Palestinians and Lebanese to resolve their issues, why do you think they ignore Somalia and Darfur in Sudan?

The Somali issue is a difficult one as far as the Arab world is concerned. Remember that Saudi Arabia was the first country that made a serious attempt to help the Somalis. They supported first and second conferences in Djibouti and later had invited Omar Arteh and Ali Mahdi government to Saudi Arabia. Late King Fahd had given his personal backing to that but it didn’t work out. Despite that we have to remember that Somalia is a bit far removed from the Arab world. Somalia is not Lebanon and as much as the Arabs want to help they couldn’t.

Somalia is in the Horn of Africa. Its problems are linked to the countries in the region. Somalia’s attempts in liberating certain territories in these areas have a lot to do with it and definitely IGAD countries had a vital role to play in bringing peace to Somalia and IGAD is the natural place to settle the Somali problem. But the Arab League was always involved. I think the Somali problem is very unique in the Arab world, has a unique factor, which has an African character to it, particularly in the Horn of Africa and the resolution has to be achieved within the context of the Horn of Africa.

Is there a possibility that Somalia could walk away from the Arab League?

No I don’t think so. I don’t think Somalia will walk away from the Arab League. Somalis are part and parcel of the Arab world. Somalia is an extension of the Arabian Peninsula into Africa, and is culturally, historically and linguistically an Arab country. One has to remember that 90% of the assistance to Somalia comes from the Arab world. The role that Yemen has played in the reconciliation of Somalia is well known. This is why that Somalia will remain part of the Arab world but definitely a unique part of the Arab world. A unique part that has very unique relationship with non-Arab countries and in many ways the Arab world and the Horn of Africa are considered to be complimentary. Consolidating the stability of the Horn of Africa and creating a sort of a Horn of African common market will be very fundamental for the growth of the Middle East. And this is true on the other side as well as the more the Middle East becomes stable, the more the Horn of Africa will become the beneficiary of that. As peace and stability returns to Somalia, I think it will play a fundamental role in connecting Arabia and Africa.

There are concerns about media restrictions by your government, why? Have imposed restrictions on Radio stations as Shabelle, Banadir and VOA through Horn of Afrik from reporting about government operations against the Islamist militias?

We don’t believe this because you have to just look at the Transitional Federal Charter where the freedom of the press and media is very fundamental. We think without the freedom of the press we cannot move forward in terms of the reconciliation process let alone in terms of development. Nonetheless, false reporting and trying to incite trouble within the country will not be tolerated and we will take issues with whoever does that whether they were Horn Afrik or Shabelle or any other body and we would ask them to correct themselves and live up the ethics of the free press.

So will you do that by closing these Radio stations, detaining reporters or gagging the media?

No, unless there is an issue of blatant disregard for the laws that govern these things, we will not interfere. And actually there was only one incident and everybody knows the love-hate relationship between the government and press; sometimes it comes from the press and some times from the government.

There are reports saying that the government banned hijab, is it a policy of secularization, do you see the hijab as a political statement or do you suspect that Islamists are using veiled women for attacks against government targets?

We definitely would not like to see some terrorists trying to blow up some areas, hiding behind the hijab. But we believe it is the right for any woman to wear or not wear the hijab. We don’t ask people to take hijab or not to take hijab. We leave that for the religious scholars to debate and when the time comes for legislation to be taken on these issues we will leave that for the parliament. You know, we have been Muslims from the day Islam came into being and we don’t like somebody telling us how to wear our clothes, or how to walk straight or take our right foot or left foot here and there, that is just ridiculous.

Do you have plans to change the Somali passport?

Sure we are working on it. We are going to put a new passport into circulation. It is an electronic passport and we will be very careful that next Somali passport should be forgery proof.

Somaliland officials travel with Somaliland passports, how would you deal with this?

The new Somali passport represents national sovereignty and we will not allow any other document to work along the Somali passport. We will protest to any country that allows such move and will consider it to be a violation of the Somali sovereignty. You have to know that the Somali government is responsible for the Somali airspace, territorial waters and boundaries and other countries have to respect that. Certainly, we will be practical and we will not take drastic actions but eventually everything has to come under government control.

What did your government do about the civil war in Daroor?

We have spoken to the Ethiopian government and urged them to send security forces to the area and stop the bloodshed and we are following up. But at the same time, I personally I would like to appeal to the fighting parties to accept the mediation efforts and listen to the advice of the elders that have come all the way to help them resolve the issue.

Source: Awdalnews Network