Hiiraan Online

by Abdulkadir Mohamed -Ato
Friday, January 16, 2009

The confusion has to do with contradictory statements coming from the acting-president Aden Madobe, a former warlord. In recent days it has been reported that the acting-president and the speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament, Aden Madobe, made a very incongruous statements, the latest in a series since assuming office with regards to the election of the next transitional president.  He summoned the parliament to meet in Baidao at the end of January to elect a new president thus snubbing the expansion of the parliament seats to 550 and the establishment of a unity government in Djibouti before the election.

There are those who believe that the speaker has undertaken a dubious design with the intent to dictate or undermine the Djibouti peace agreement ratified by a majority of the members of the parliament.  The formation of an inclusive power-sharing government of national unity and the election or selection of its president is a serious matter. One wonders about the gravity of the acting-president/speaker's actions and motivations. What is the rush? Why convene already fractured and feuding parliamentarians to circumvent the Djibouti agreement? There are those who perceive this as a treasonous act dictated to the speaker by Ethiopia. Or is it just a mere folly on the part of Madobe? No one knows but Madobe must follow and obey the Djibouti peace deal and the wishes of Somalis for peaceful settlement after catastrophic civil war and enemy occupation.

Predicting what might happen at the end of January and how it will affect the selection of the next transitional president is impossible but it would be interesting to see how the contradictory statements coming from Baidao and Djibouti deal work out.

Now that the Ethiopians left the capital and supposedly from Somalia, would they totally wash their hands of Somalia and stay true to their withdrawal or would it continue to be business as usual? Would they continue having satellite spoilers and seditious subordinates to keep Somalia in failed state situation? Would they continue supplying weapons and spies to ruthless warlords to wreak more havoc in Somalia? The international community has some sway on Ethiopia. Ethiopia must stop be told to discontinue its destructive intervention and manipulation of the Somali political problems.

The radical hordes of Shabaab are certainly the usual suspects who swore to be the foremost spoilers to the chances for peace in Somalia regardless of the Ethiopian withdrawal. Shabaab are obviously on the wrong track for rejecting to take part in the Djibouti peace deal. Their strict my-way or the-highway ideology is incompatible with the pragmatism needed to nurture goodwill and understanding between all Somali stakeholders. Al-Shabaab must understand that Somalia belongs to all Somalis and that Somalis don't subscribe to the same ideas and allegiances and their extremism is detested and unpopular. No group can dictate the destiny of a whole nation by means of terror and irrational adherences to detested dogmas. The level of violence they perpetrate against others in the name of a twisted interpretation of the beautiful religion is incredible and that not only defies humanity but mocks the same religious overtones they advocate. They could end up as sore losers if they prolong the violence in Somalia through extreme violence and slaughtering innocent civilians. Al-Shabaab's standing would then be on par of blood thirsty satanic cult in the eyes of many peace-loving and war-weary Somalis.

Then you have those so-called moderate Sufi sects that with merciless salvo slaughtered scores of Shabaab soldiers. They seem to have appetite to prolong the sectarian wars as they swore to completely get rid of Shabaab heretics from every district in Somalia, which is beyond their reach.  The sectarian wars started with a swagger in central Somalia and are being waged with senseless ferocity in an effort to settle old scores.  Ironically Ash'ari, the Sufi leader in Guriceel where scores of Shabaabs were killed is said to be the brother-in-law of Dahir Aweys, the so-called spiritual leader of Al-Shabaab. This is just getting silly.

All these religious sects should be aware that there is no justification for more bloodshed and they should be taught to get along and respect each other's ways of worshipping the same GOD and practicing the same RELIGION.

Another uncertainty to the Djibouti peace deal has to do with the many irregular and unruly would-be Islamist spoilers lurking behind the scenes. The side of the discredited individuals from the Islamist camp and their rush to take hold of every base the Ethiopians abandoned is kind troubling. Some of them seem to be erratic in both their deliberations and dealings.  They have known loose cannons as the infamous Sheikh Indha'Adde. His political and militia maneuverings have always been unpredictable. To make matters worse, Islamist screwballs are now darlings of Mogadishu media and websites. Some of them publicly proclaim some injudicious things that could be considered to challenge Sheikh Sharif's authority and the Djibouti peace deal. This is intolerable and these kinds of broadcasts must be discouraged.  Unruly warlords and Islamist bullies should be restrained and told that there would be penalties for their subversive sabotage to spoil the Djibouti peace process. For those who are inclined to resolve things through fighting or want to grab power through the barrel of gun must know that insisting on their extreme ways would bring about their downfall. There are indications that most Somalis are dissatisfied with the radicalism and the continuation of the war. There is no external enemy within to justify the bloodshed of innocent people any more and you can't declare Jihad on fellow Muslims.

This is the time for peace. Any group or individual that is not for peace would be seen as spoiler of peace.  The Djibouti peace agreement is a landmark and one hope for the suffering people of Somalia to have peace and stability.