The Media Line talks to a family who have been split between the various sides of civil war in Somalia.

Written By Abdinasir Mohamed Guled

Mogadishu, Somalia, July 04, 2009 – Sitting on a mat outside her home in Mogadishu, Jawahir Gheddi, mother of eight, tells a heartbreaking tale of how the ongoing war in Somalia has created rifts not only between the government and the insurgent Islamic militants, but also between members of her own family.

Gheddi says she is a ‘partial’ supporter of Al shabaab, the Islamic militant group who is currently fighting the Somali government and its allies, the Ethiopian forces. While Gheddi and her three sons—one of whom is a fighter in the militant group—support the war against the government, she finds it hard to condone some of the insurgent’s recent actions, such as the mortar shelling of government bases in which civilians were killed. She believes that “the opposition needs to focus on the war against the government and foreign forces, not by attacking other people.”

“We support the fighting against the so-called government and the foreign forces because they won’t bring a solution to our country,” Gheddi adds, sipping tea under a tree near her house as two of her sons play ball nearby. “Look at what the Ethiopians did in our country.”

Mrs Gheddi’s family left Kismayu, a town in the south of the country, two years ago in order to live with her husband, Mohammed, who was working in Mogadishu. The situation in the war-torn country means she no longer lives with Mohammed, however: Mohammed backs the government in the war and decries the actions of the insurgents— an opinion shared by his four daughters and one of his sons. This divergence of opinion means that the members of his family no longer see eye to eye. More worryingly, Mohammed has recently fled his home as he fears his sons want to kill him.

Mohammed, a wealthy business man, moved to a government stronghold more than four months ago after he received death threats from the insurgents. His son was killed in the fighting outside Mogadishu on 21 March and Mohammed has concerns for the future of his wife and seven remaining children, wondering whether his family will ever reconcile, For now, his daughters and sons who share his view and back the government have not had to leave the family home.

“Personally, I would love peace to come soon. I want peace for my children—right away,” he says, sitting in a teashop near his new home.

Mohammed and Jawahir don’t only disagree about the political situation in Somalia; they also hold different opinions about the death of their son.

Mrs. Gheddi doesn’t mourn her son’s death as she believes he died in Jihad against the enemy of Islam and her people. Instead she has an unwavering, unremorseful faith that “he died in the right way and will be in paradise.”

Mohammed doesn’t grieve for his son either, but for a different reason: he was afraid of him, and disappointed that his son went against him. “He rejected my words and he died in a wrong way,” Mohammed believes.

Fearing your own children is a tragic and frightening situation to be in and, as Mohammed testifies, can lead to deeper disagreements and an even bigger chasm developing within an already strained unit. When Mohammed’s wife called him on his mobile phone to ask him to attend his son’s funeral, Mohammed refused for security reasons.

But he hasn’t given up hope: in an attempt to reconcile his family, Mohammed asked the opposition group to lay down their arms and join the government, but as time has dragged on, Mohammed’s hopes are fading. Somalia’s rebel groups have splintered and seized nearly all of the country’s regions. They are expanding into areas close to the presidential palace and the president’s home, and have now taken control of most of Mogadishu, except for a few small pockets that are still being controlled by the government with the help of EU peacekeepers.

Somalia’s government has said it will continue its military campaign against the rebels. “I think this is the best solution,” Mohammed says, “the government is right.” But the government is progressively weakening: on Saturday, Somali parliament speaker Sheikh Aden Muhammad Nour called for its neighboring countries to come to its immediate and urgent aid by sending its military forces to intervene.

Whether its African neighbors—or other world nations—will come to Somalia’s defense remains to be seen, but for millions in Somalia, the immediate crises of lack of food and huge displacement continue.

Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, despite the confrontation within its own walls, Mohammed and his wife still try to meet. Jawahir says her husband doesn’t come to their home but they meet from time to time in areas that are safe for him to go to. She visits these places rather than visiting him in his house, as she’s frightened for her safety as well as his.

Ideally, the hopeful father would like to relocate his children and their mother to the relatively safer area he currently lives in, but that depends solely on his wife’s nod of approval. “I would like my wife to change her mind but she tells me that she couldn’t,” Mohammed adds. “I don’t know why. She says my sons are in the group. If peace doesn't happen soon, I'll make my own decision to meet family.” He insists that he loves his family, “but violent views are not welcome.”

If the situation is prolonged, will the couple’s marriage be in jeopardy? Mrs. Gheddi thinks not. She doubts her husband’s absence will cause him to take another wife. “He may get hitched with another woman but I don’t think he will, because I’ve grown children for him,” she says bobbing her head and smiling.

Gheddi says she might change her mind about the situation in the coming months if the violence continues. Asked if she would retract her support of Al Shabaab and form the opinion as her husband, she says throatily, “Maybe, maybe not.”

The Media Line spoke to one of the sons of the family, who preferred not to give his name but called himself Ali. He identified himself as the Al Shabaab fighter, and said, “This is a right Jihad against the enemy of Allah. This is what I want to succeed or die for.” He said he would stop fighting if the foreign forces left the country, adding that “ever-continued fighting with no aim is impossible.”

Analysts believe foreigners are boosting the opposition’s ranks, and this has caused concern that Somalia will become a haven for terrorist groups. The director of the CIA announced recently that foreigners fleeing Pakistan and Afghanistan were entering Somalia to aid the rebels in overthrowing the Somali government, and Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif said at a news conference recently that foreign fighters had invaded his country.

Sharif’s government is the 15th to attempt to set up central rule in Somalia, which has been in anarchy for 18 years. Somalis are suspicious of the government for not doing enough to fight the expanding opposition groups and those trying to undermine its survival, and analysts believe the government may soon be destroyed due to lack of public support, as its predecessor was.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) says they have no mandate to fight the insurgents, and some three million people - half the population – are in need of food aid after years of fighting.

Whatever the outcome will be in the country, the Gheddi family members want the fighting to stop so they can reunite and continue their lives together. Fatima, one the daughters of the family, says they face a non-existent life if their father is away from home, and believes her father’s opinion is the most righteous one. “My father is right to support peace,” she says sadly, carrying the vegetables home one early morning.  “My mom’s view cannot be denied, but we want to reunite and have our quiet life again soon.” 

Source: The Media Line

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