Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 25, 2009 (SL Times) – In our last issue, the Somaliland Times pointed out that Djiboutian officials may have misled the two French experts about the security situation in Mogadishu which eventually led to the kidnapping of the French experts by terrorists. There is now evidence that Djibouti was involved in the planning of Congressman’s trip to Mogadishu in which his airplane was fired at. The revelation comes from Congressman Payne himself who told allAfrica.com (July 15, 2009):

“Since it has been about 12 to 15 years since any U.S. official has gone to Mogadishu, I thought it was time for a visit. Ted Dagne [Africa Specialist at the Congressional Research Service] and I planned a trip. We worked with the African Union, the Ugandan general in charge, the government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed [the current president of the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia], the Djibouti president and his security people.” (http://allafrica.com/stories/200907170544.html

Apparently the US government had strongly advised Congressman Payne against going to Mogadishu but he disregarded their suggestion and instead gave more weight to what he was being told by Ted Dagne, the Djiboutians, the Ugandans and the fictitious president of Somalia. Here is how one media outlet reported the reaction of the State Department’s spokesman, Robert Wood:

State Department spokesman Robert Wood confirmed Payne was all right. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya said he had arrived safely in Nairobi.

“He’s safe, unharmed,” Wood said. He added that U.S. officials had given Payne a security briefing about Somalia before he went to Mogadishu and that the congressman had chosen to go anyway.

“We provided the congressman with a briefing and gave him a very frank and straightforward assessment of the security situation on the ground,” he said.

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives | Search