Hiiraan Online

by Ali H Abdulla
Sunday, March 15, 2009

The sight of thee makes me weep, O India
For thine is the most tragic all stories,
Leave not the trace of a single petal in this garden. O flower-gatherer,
Thanks to the feuds of the gardeners, their path is smooth"
O people of India! You will be destroyed if you do not understand,
Your very story will be erased from the book of the stories of nations,"  Allama Mohamed Iqbal

The first event took place on the 6^th of March when Voice of America, Somali Service, sponsored a lively debate on the subject of Somaliland secession from the rest of the Somali Republic.

The service invited three distinguished Somali gentlemen who are involved directly or indirectly with Somali affairs. Ambassador Abdullahi Congo is an ex-army officer who participated in the failed coup of 1961 by a group of disgruntled young officers in the North. Just before the Barre Regime collapsed, he was the ambassador of Somalia to the Arab League in Cairo. He now works as a consultant for the government of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. I have met the Ambassador on several occasions and he is fond of repeating the story of not being able to convince his mother of the merits of Somali Unity let alone others in Somaliland. Bashir Goth is a Somali writer and poet who recently resigned from editing Awdalnews which seems to have been taken over by sympathizers of UDUB, one of the three Somaliland parties vying for power in the break-away enclave. Bashir is known for his strong believe in free speech and used to accommodate secessionist and unionist views both. Faisal Roble is a Somali intellectual based in the United States and a frequent contributor to Wardheernews, a Somali website known for its balanced reporting on Somali affairs.

Ambassador Congo and Bashir Goth defended the dismemberment of Somalia while Faisal Roble defended Somali Unity. The debate was very civil, constructive, and intellectual. It ended amicably with all sides acknowledging the need for dialogue between North and South.  The only low point in the debate was when Bashir argued that Somaliland was ready for more blood and gore to gain its independence as if the quantity spilt so far were not enough.

The importance of the debate is that it has steered the issue of Somaliland to a new pragmatic level. While most Somaliland politicians have always distanced themselves from the rest of the country and refused any dialogue with the south, there seems to be a change of tone in the last few months. For example, the vice president of Somaliland, Mr. Axmed Yassin, took an unexpected position, when he recently told members of a delegation from the Somaliland Diaspora, that it is impossible to erect artificial boundaries between the two sides of Somalia.

The debate raised three important points:

1. That the North and South need to sit down and talk before Somaliland approaches the rest of the World for recognition.
2. That there is a need for a new concept that is different from the current unitary arrangement such as a loose confederation or a federal system.
3. That Rayale was wrong in his recent assertion that the recognition of Somaliland gets closer as the South descends deeper into anarchy and bloodshed.
4. That there are several regions in the North that cannot be forced to join the secession train without an internationally supervised referendum.

Although the event bode well for North-South dialogue, it raises several important questions. Why did Voanews select two supporters of the secession against one Unionist? Why were prominent Unionists such Dr. Ali Khalif Galaydh, Professor Ahmed Samatar and the Honorable Jama Mohamed Galib, all from Somaliland, not included in the debate? Why did the debate coincide with the visit of Rayale to the UK? Is the media in general sympathetic to a divided Somalia? Is the new Federal Government an administration for pacifying the South or a government for all Somalis including those regions in the North that desire to always remain within the fold of the Republic?

This brings me to the second event, the visit of Rayale to London. Rayale and his befuddled foreign minister try to sell the visit to gullible Somalilanders as an official visit in which he met the UK Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Miliband as a prelude to the recognition of Somaliland by the UK.

It turns out that the purpose of the visit was for Rayale to speak at Chattam House as part of its Africa Programme – Research Events. His lecture, made possible by some UK MPs who are sympathetic to the quest of their former colony for recognition, was entitled “Somaliland’s Role in the Stability of the Horn of Africa”.

Chattam House describes the lecture as “an opportunity to hear from President Rayale about Somaliland's experience domestically and regionally. He will address what he sees as the challenges facing Somaliland and the achievements of Somaliland. President Rayale will speak about the democratisation process in Somaliland and how Somaliland has deterred piracy. He will also discuss Somaliland's role in the wider Horn of Africa region.”

Instead of confining himself to the scope of the lecture, Rayale used the opportunity to talk about the failure of the International Community to recognize his country by opening his lecture with “Mr Chairman, I would like to thank you, for inviting me to Chatham House. I am extremely delighted to be here with you this afternoon, to speak about the issue of recognition of Somaliland among others.” A transcript of his lecture can be accessed at Chattam House.

Despite Rayale’s attempt to score points ahead of the expected election in Somaliland in May, the position of the UK government was made clear by Lord Malloch-Brown when he recently stated that “We have had contact with the President of Somaliland, and the Foreign Secretary will meet him. Our position remains the same: first and foremost, the leaders of Somalia and Somaliland must sit down to try to resolve their differences. Beyond that, it is for Africa to take the lead in any change of status that might follow. We certainly cannot overlook the fact that Somaliland is the one part of broader Somalia where there is, at the moment, some reasonable government and development progress. Indeed, some 60 per cent of our development assistance is applied to Somaliland because of the success that is possible there.”

This event also raises important question related to the first event. When will the Minister of Information of the new Federal Government start speaking to counter the claims of the secessionists? When will the new Federal Government start defending its sovereignty against foreign meddlers such as Chattam House, a colonial outpost that shamelessly gives a platform for Rayale without giving the Federal Government the chance for a rebuttal? How would the UK government feel if institutions in another country gave a free platform to entities like the Real IRA to air their views? Is it legal for a supposedly Research Institution to weaken a sovereign country and interfere in its internal affairs?

The final event is the blatant interference of Ethiopia in the affairs of Somalia, a sovereign member of the African Union. Ethiopia deals with regions of Somalia such as Puntland and Somaliland as vassal states. It freely summons the leaders of these regions without the knowledge of the Federal Government. This week saw the concurrent visits of the Puntland and Somaliland so-called presidents to Ethiopia. Those of us who believe that Ethiopia has been evicted from Somalia need to realize that we are in fact equivalent to one of the regions of Ethiopia such as Zone 5. Ethiopia has a longtime agenda to break-up Somalia into tiny enclaves that it controls at whim and some of our leaders seem to be facilitating such agenda.

To conclude, all three events serve to weaken Somali Unity and Sovereignty. The Federal Government and the resistance movements need to wake up to this danger and start waging a political war against the dangers looming in the horizon. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Information need to organize themselves as viable institutions in the shortest time possible to counter these dangers.

Ali H Abdulla

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