By Ahmed Egal, Beijing , PRC

It is true that History repeats itself with different actors serving the same function at different times. It was only a little more then a century ago when in the 1870s, Ali Yusuf Keenadiid returned from Arabia with about three dozens of Hadhrami musketeers and a band of devoted subordinates. With their help, he called himself Sultan and carved out the small kingdom in Hobyo after conquering the peaceful local Hawiye clans. After he found it hard to establish his dream over the Hawiye, he invited European Colonial Powers through the recommendations of Pietro Antonelli, the famous Italian who mediated between the French and the Majerteen Sultan of Bargal who wrecked and pirated the French Ship of Amical and then took huge amounts of gold bars from French Indo-china.

During the Italian campaign against Ethiopia, at the eve of The Battle of Adawa, Piertro Antonelli was commanded by General Baratieri to send boats to Bargal in Majertenia, meet with the Sultans of Majeerteen and make promises to him then get from him as much as strong fighting tribesmen to join the Italian forces against Ethiopians. Antonelli familiar with the Sultan of Majeerteen made promises and took several boats filled with Majertenia tribal fighters (no figures are available). They landed in Assab under the command of Italians who marched them to Mekelle commanded by General Arimondi and Adigrat where headquarter of the Italian forces were located and under the command of General Baratieri. Without training the Majeerteen Tribal warriors were thrown into an unknown war. It is known that some of them were reinforced to the mountain top Italian held fort Amba Alage commanded by Major Toselli and faced the merciless charge of Fitawrari Gebeyehu forces.

Self-styled Sultan Ali Yusuf of Hobyo called for Italy's protection in December 1888, and was planning to use Italy's support in his quest to capture the local Hawiye people who wanted to throw him back to Majeerteen territory.

Different Majeerteen Sultans were engaged soliciting and inviting foreign powers against their own Somali peoples. Surprisingly, on 7 April 1889, it was Italy who concluded a treaty of protection with the Majeerteen sultanate of Bargal, having only a few months before, in December 1888, signed a similar treaty with the Hobyo sultanate. The protectorate agreements were renewed by the Majeerteen Sltan of Bargal on 7 April 1895 and on 11 April 1895 by the self-styled Sultan Ali Yusuf of Hobyo.

Exactly it is the same way when Col. Abdillahi Yusuf found out that his Majeerteen militia from Majertenia are not cable of putting him into the Power Seat in Mogadishu, he followed the foot steps of his greedy ancestors and invited the Ethiopian Army to capture Somalia for him. Ethiopia hastily stepped in to take Somalia and made themselves bosses in Mogadishu, the capital of the Somalia!

For the last five centuries Ethiopia left no stone unturned to capture Somalia and get access to the international water of the sea. Ethiopia’s Christian Emperor Lebna Dengel tried to conquer Harar and Awdal (Zeila) until Ahmed Guray defeated him in 1529.

Ahmad won a key battle against Emperor Lebna Dengel at Shembera Kure and by 1535 he had captured Dewaro, Shewa, Amhara, Lasta, and Tigray. Emperor Lebna Dengel became nothing but a fugitive running from one hiding place to another with small disconcerted loyal guards until he died 1540

However, before Lebna Dengel’s death, he had requested military assistance from the king of Portugal. In February 1541, 400 well-equipped Portuguese musketeers led by Dom Christovao de Gama arrived in Massawa. And in April of 1542, Ahmad Guray was repulsed back from Lake Tana and slightly defeated.

Ahmad Guray with larger army from all corners of Somalia returned in August 1542 and defeated the Ethio/Portuguese force led by Dom Christovao de Gama, captured and beheaded Dom Christovao de Gama in that battle.

Emperor Tewodros continued the expansion of Imperial Ethiopia against the Somalia until he fought against Queen Victoria’s army of Great Britain and lost his strategy against Somalia.

Emperor Menelik sought international help to conquer the neighboring Moslem territory of Somalia and 1891, he received Vasili Mashchov, who brought with him a letter from Czar Alexander III and two Russian Orthodox priests. The Czar had sent arms to install a large Orthodox monarchy in the Horn of Africa. Also in 1892, a correspondent with "Le Temps" named Casimir Mondon-Vidailhet, who was also a semi-official representative of the French government arrived. The French were eager to assist the Christian Emperor Menelik to conquer the Somali lands and rule its people. France awarded Emperor Menelik the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honor. Friendly relations were firmly established with the French.

Nevertheless, Menelik with all the foreign aid of arms and medals awarded to him, he was not able to capture an inch of the Somali Lands except those parts the European Colonial Powers designated to him.

Immediately when former Italian Somalia and British Somaliland Protectorate obtained their independence from the colonial rulers, Emperor Haile Selassie staged a preemptive attack in February 1964 to capture Somaliland and promised his forces that their salary shall be paid in the seaport of Berbera. Ethiopia launched a six-front invasion into the young republic with aerial bombardment, which was thwarted and aborted by the sheer will of the Somali people. The war ended with the intervention of the OAU in April 1964. During the reign of the Emperor, Ethiopia repeated several other unsuccessful attempts to capture parts of Somaliland in order to get an access to sea. Like his predecessor emperors Haile Selassie never succeeded to fulfill the Ethiopian dream.

After the Emperor Haile Selassie was toppled by a violent military regime headed by Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam. A military junta called “The Derg”, found that the Somali people’s resistance reached a point where they have almost liberated their land from the Ethiopian occupation and as usual, then Ethiopia resorted for help. It was that historic juncture when the Soviet Union and Cuba assisted Ethiopia, with Cuba sending nearly 15,000 troops, aided by 1,500 Soviet advisors. Somalia lost the war, and its military might was wrecked. But Mengistu’s Derg with their unholy alliance never succeeded to capture an inch more land from the Somali lands.

Instead Mengistu Haile Mariam, the leader of The Derg, set the stage to plunge Somalia into civil war and supported col. Abdillahi Yusuf and different opposition groups with arms to through Somalia into chaos. Mengistu’s success to topple the government of Somalia was part of the age old Ethiopian Grandiose Strategic Plan against Somalia.

Mengistu’s successor, Meles Zenawi, the present Tegrean ruler of Ethiopia, simply following the foot steps of his predecessors used the same stooge Col Abdillahi Yusuf the so-called President of the TFG, who was supposed to be nothing more than a Chairman of a Reconciliation Council. In December 2006 finally Ethiopia realized its age old expansionist Grandiose Strategic Plan against Somalia was imminentand then dashed in.

In this infamous manner Col. Abdillahi Yusuf repeated his ancestor’s actions to bring foreign forces into Somalia in return to help him climb into the impossible seat in Villa Somalia.

History shall never forgive the Majertenia Militia led by Col. Abdillahi Yusuf and his supporters who collaborated against their people and sovereignty of Somalia. However, the standing questions are: how long shall this remain in the present shameful situation before Meles Zenawi realizes the impracticality of his venture? And, how long it takes the Somalis to understand and then stoop to liberate themselves???

ahegal@yahoo.com