Since the first international Somali reconciliation conference was organized on foreign soil almost two decades ago, Somalia’s politicians or wannabe politicians have engaged in a game of trying to use foreign countries for their own purposes. In their naiveté, many of these politicians thought that asking foreign countries for support comes without a price. Now they are finding out that there is no such thing as free lunch in international politics. One of the most recent victims of his alliance with foreign powers is Abdillahi Yusuf who used his connections to countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya to catapult him to the “presidency” of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). But what he forgot was that foreign countries are willing to support him as long as that support advanced their own interests, and that once supporting him came in conflict with the interests of his sponsors, that support would be withdrawn and he would be dropped like a hot potato, which is exactly what happened. Abdillahi Yusuf should have known better given his past experience in Ethiopia where he served several years in jail. Apparently he forgot that previous lesson and had to pay the price again. This time there was no long jail sentence for him only humiliation by the US Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer, who would not make the time to see him except for a few moments at Nairobi airport, on her way out of Kenya, where his pleas for support were firmly rejected and he was told in no uncertain terms to resign.
After resigning, Abdillahi Yusuf retreated to Puntland, his native region. But the information coming out of there is that the Puntland government concluded that he was still a high-prized target of the radical Islamists who drove him out of Mogadishu and Puntland could not guarantee his security, so he requested and received political asylum from Yemen. Many Somalis thought that was the end of Abdillahi Yusuf’s degrading treatment by foreign countries, but they were wrong. The same principle, that there is no free lunch in international politics quickly came into play, yet again, when a Yemeni News Agency, attributed to Abdillahi Yusuf a declaration of support for Somalia’s new “president”, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad. It is not clear whether Abdillahi Yusuf actually expressed such support or whether the Yemenis fabricated it. The reason for the doubt is that he had made another statement, before the one attributed to him by Yemenis, in which he said that Sheik Sharif’s ascent to the presidency is not going to change anything. Moreover, the statement published by the Yemeni News Agency contradicts Puntland’s stand which rejected the outcome of the Djibouti conference. Ultimately, Abdillahi Yusuf’s actual stand really does not matter, since he owes the Yemenis a big favor for granting him political asylum and he is not in a position to contradict them.
Abdillahi Yusuf’s situation is not unique in Somalia. Most of Somalia’s politicians whether it is Sheikh Sharif and Djibouti, Dahir Aweys and Eritrea, al-Shabab and al-Qaida, have foreign sponsors. That sponsorship can only last as long as the foreign powers think it serves their interests. Once foreigners conclude that their protégé is of no use to them, then he will be shown the door, just like Abdillahi Yusuf. When will Somalia’s politicians learn that simple fact?
 

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