Dear Abdul Rahman Hariri, 

I read your opinion piece entitled, “Response To What ICG Said About Las-Anod”. Read the ICG's comments: http://somalilandpress.com/11253/somaliland-las-anod-remains-isolated-as-american-secret-agent-arrives/

While I respect your opinion, you have failed to mention the root cause of Sool region’s problem and as usual you have blamed the usual suspects: Isaaq or Iidoor (Iidoor: a derogatory term) as some of you constantly call the Isaaq tribes. Even if earthquake hits Sool, rest assured some people will blame Isaaq (some of the Somaliland tribes). Something does not change, does it?

But as history attests, it is not the Iidoor that sabotaged much of Sool's developments but Dhulbhante tribes themselves. For instance, the Sool population fought along Sayyid Mohammed Abudule Hassan for 25 years; then along Gen. Siyad Barre for 23 years; then along Col. Abdillahi Yusuf for 20 years (1988-2008). None of these men hail from Somaliland. (Remember: Gen. Siyad Barre's government was commonly referred to by the code name MOD. This acronym stood for Mareehaan (Siyad Barre's clan), Ogaden (the clan of Siyad Barre's mother), and Dhulbahante (the clan of Siyad Barre son-in-law Colonel Ahmad Sulaymaan Abdullah, who headed the NSS). These were the three clans whose members formed the government's inner circle.) http://countrystudies.us/somalia/24.htm)

Now I guarantee you whether Somaliland gains its independence or not, some Sool residents will be detonating bombs for the next 20 years.

Total: 25+23+20+20 = 88 years. Now the truth is the people of Sool will go through 88 years of war and destruction before they realize that the rest of the Somali society has progressed and Sool population is left behind. The Kenyan Deputy Speaker Mr. Ma`alimo in fact noticed that Sool was behind other regions in terms of education and developments and he gave a scholarship to ten student from Las Annod when he visited the city this year.

Worse still, the 25 years that Sool inhabitants supported the Sayyid nothing was built in the region. The 23 years they supported Gen. Siyad Barre, instead of rebuilding Las Annod, they built Mogadishu’s filth rich neighborhood called Taleex and Kismanyo city (the Promised Land for the Majerten tribes of Puntland). And the 20 years that Col. Abdillahi Yusuf (INA YEY) has entertained them, Sool people rebuilt not Las Annod but Garowe and Boosaaso cities of Puntland, as well as Burco and Hargeysa cities of Somaliland.

Col. Abdillahi Yusuf—the notorious butcher of Mogadishu—entertained the Sool population by creating the so-called Daraawiish (dervish) forces; but what he didn't tell them was: that in fact, the Sayyid and his dervish forces abhorred the Majerten tribes of Puntland more than any other Somali tribes. A proof of this claim could be found in the Sayyid’s poems.

And some people from Sool claim that they support Somali unity but when INA YEY was occupying Mogadishu with the help of Ethiopia’s brutal army, they were waving the Ethiopian flag and supporting the occupation of Somalia. 

How come back then Sool politicians, Intellectuals, and Garaads (tribal chiefs) did not hold a meeting in Nairobi to liberate Mogadishu? I double dare you to answer this question!

You know very well before pro-Somaliland Dhulbahante forces captured Las Annod from Puntland, tribal skirmishing was common in the city; people carried guns freely in the city but not any more.

Today, some Sool Diaspora communities instead of rebuilding schools and hospitals, they send money to make bombs. I have long argued the Las Annod bombings are the work of Al-Shabaab and its local recruits.

And now EJ Hogendoorn, the International Crisis Group's Horn of Africa Project Director agrees with me by stating, “…the Dhulbahante are unhappy with both Puntland and Somaliland, and Islamist radicals have taken advantage of this to try to cause instability in the area,". "The interest of these Islamist elements is to foment instability. What is clear is that they have links with Al-Shabaab in south and central Somalia," he adds.

Also recently, the Somaliland President Mr. Dahir Riyale Kahin said that the bombings in Las Annod and the Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks in Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland, were linked.

Much of the propaganda about Sool region has been debunked in the following articles. http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/4458

In short, I personally support the self-determination of Sool population—after all, a large number of my family members hail from Dhulbahante tribes; and I would never deny my nephews and nieces' God-given rights to run the affairs of their province; they should control their region and its resources. The 20, 000 refugees in Kenya (they fled during the Gen. Siyad Barre’s era, not when Somaliland took over the city in 2007) should come back home.

And as long as some Sool Diaspora (some of them have not seen the region for 30 years) communities are pouring money into Sool, not to rebuild schools and hospitals but to bomb security forces—which by the way are pure Dhulbahante, "not invading Iidoor", I am afraid such ill-conceived strategy may eventually trigger a tribal war between Dhulbahante tribes.

Also, it is absolutely embarrassing that although we are in the 21 century, some educated and intellectuals from Sool region are still arguing they want to be part of Puntland because they share tribal lineages with its people. At the same time these people would claim fighting for Somali unity. Give me a break!

And to make matters worse, Puntland now has its own flag and doesn’t count Eastern Sanaag and Sool regions as part of its entity.

The truth is if anyone is to be blamed for the Sool fiasco, it would be none other than Dhulbahante themselves. But it is easier to find a scapegoat called—Iidoor, isn't it?

Thank you,

Dalmar Kahin

dalmar_k@yahoo.com

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