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Hargeysa, Somaliland, March 27, 2010 (SL Times) –
Listeners of the BBC’s Somali service got a chance this week to hear Dr
Muhammad Abdi Gaboose speak about the late Somali dictator Muhammad
Siyad Barre’s treachery and political miscalculations. The BBC program
on Somali history was broadcast several years ago, and is being
re-broadcast these days.
Dr Gaboose said Muhammad Siyad Barre initially responded positively to
their suggestion that he should visit the north (Somaliland) in order to
find out the grievances of the people and then defuse the situation by
solving those problems; but once Barre reached an agreement with the
Ethiopian dictator Mingistu Haile Mariam, he calculated that since the
SNM would no longer receive assistance from Ethiopia, he would be able
to crush the SNM, and therefore, he became more belligerent.
Dr Gaboose also revealed how Barre discriminated against Isaq ministers
in his delegation and did not allow them to attend the talks with the
Ethiopians, and instead, he sent them to meet with Isaq businessmen in
Djibouti.
Muhammad Siyad Barre’s half-brother, Abdirahman Jama Barre “Buluqbuluq”,
who served as foreign minister in that regime, and who was also
interviewed in this program, said he had proposed that the Somali
government start talks with the SNM but Muhammad Siyad Barre’s in-laws
objected.
Dr Gaboose was health minister at the time. He is now Kulmiye’s campaign
manager for the eastern regions.
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