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Courage under Fire in Somalia
(Bill Ainanshe)
The bomb blast that took the lives of several
innocent Somali bystanders and wounded dozens of others was
not only intended to harm the Somali Prime Minister. Indeed,
it was meant to demolish the hard won Somali peace accord.
The criminals who caused such a dreadful carnage wanted to
destroy the emerging Somali transitional federal institutions
including the government and the parliament from within and
thus plunging the country into a new bloody civil war with
all the now familiar political, economic and security repercussions.
Ali Gedi; the Prime Minister of the Somali Transitional Federal
Government courageously said that “Cowardly acts like
the deadly bomb blast will not deter me from discharging my
duties as a Prime Minister”. The fact is that the bomb
attack was not only cowardly but it was a cruel act of violence
against the Somali Nation as a whole. Indeed, it was a terrorist
act against all of Somalis and it must be condemned with the
strongest possible terms by every one. Needless to say, anyone
who condone or sympathize the evil motives of the perpetrators
that have carried out that savage attack against our people
and against our embryonic democratic federal political system
must know that they will suffer the consequences of standing
along side the enemy of the Somali people.
It is very unfortunate that Sharif Xasan; the run-away “Speaker”
of the Somali Transitional Federal Parliament, as well as
the destructive Mogadishu warlords and their supporters are
yet to distance themselves from that deadly attack which took
so many innocent Somali lives. They have failed thus far to
come out to the public arena and condemn whole-heartedly that
evil act of terror against our people. Hence, they are, at
the very least, all guilty by reason of silence!
The fact is that the criminals who committed that atrocity
are hiding behind tribal walls in Mogadishu protected by tribal
militias under the control of the warlords. Hence, if Sharif
Xasan and the destructive Mogadishu warlords were seriously
honesty about capturing those criminals, they would have initiated
a manhunt to bring the perpetrators to justice. But they did
not. Instead they nodded their heads in silence signaling
to their myopic tribalist followers that they are in agreement
with the perpetrators of that horrific act of terror which
killed and wounded so many innocent Somalis.
Sharif Xasan kept pretending to be a leader for months by
constantly appointing bogus committees, calling for and chairing
countless number of useless meetings with no workable agendas.
Further more, he tried very hard to overshadow President Abdullahi
Yusuf’s official visit to the United Nations’
General Assembly in New York City by gate-crashing a conference
that he was no invited. He also traveled in recent months
to several countries in Europe and in the Arab world in an
effort to collect more money for himself while presenting
himself as a man in a genuine crusade to save Somalia. Yet,
when a true leader with moral courage was needed, he vanished
from the face of the earth. He kept his silence while dozens
of innocent Somali were slaughtered by orders of his closest
political allies; namely, destructive Mogadishu warlords.
Neither Muuse Suudi Yalaxow, nor Maxamed Qanyare Afrax nor
any other warlords condemned those who slaughtered innocent
Somalis. If the truth is to be told they were all smiling
to their teeth when that bomb exploded. However, their smile
was short lived as the fast majority of the Somali people
including those the warlords claim to represent were outraged
and denounced the bomb blast as an attack against the reputation
of their people and their city. Indeed, Sharif Xasan and the
destructive Mogadishu warlords are now standing alone in the
dark as ghosts waiting for their imminent demise on daybreak.
The bomb attack against the Somali Prime Minister has several
important political significances. First, the attack is a
testament that has validated beyond any reasonable doubt the
argument President Abdullahi Yusuf and his government made
repeatedly since the Transitional Federal Government ended
its exile in Nairobi almost a year ago. To their credit, no
one can dispute today the fact that the security situation
in Mogadishu is so severe that it will be suicidal for the
Transitional Federal Government to move to the capital at
the present time. Contrary to the flawed and deceitful arguments
made by Sharif Xasan and the destructive Mogadishu warlords,
the Somali capital is unfortunately, a lawless city where
anarchy and chaos is the daily norm. Hence, no one should
be under any illusion to ask the Transitional Federal Government
to move there anytime in the foreseeable future.
Second, the attack sheds bright light on the political hypocrisy
of Sharif Xasan, the destructive Mogadishu warlords and their
myopic tribalist supporters. They have been telling lies to
the Somali people for months by claiming that Mogadishu was
a safe place for the Transitional Federal Government to move
in. Hence, President Abdullahi Yusuf was, in their words,
trying to deny Mogadishu’s legitimate right to remain
as the capital of the Federal Somali Republic. The warlords
control the city. Hence, they must do something about its
security or they should allow government to do so.
Third, the destructive warlords’ double roles as members
of the Transitional Federal Government while at the same time
they are continuing their warlordism seems untenable after
the bomb blast that almost killed the Somali Prime Minister.
President Abdullahi Yusuf must seriously consider ejecting
the destructive Mogadishu warlords from their ministerial
portfolios as soon as possible. Contrary to what the destructive
Mogadishu warlords and Sharif Xasan would like us to believe,
they do not have much popular support in and around Mogadishu
or any where else for that matter.
Unfortunately, we Somali are basically oral society with
no records kept for future use. Hence, anyone can say one
thing today and say the exact opposite next day without being
questioned. This is probably the main reasons why Muuse Suudi
Yalaxow foolishly stood in front of “live” Radio
microphones and said that he will shoot down any civilian
aircraft that refuses to land the illegal airstrips under
the control of the destructive Mogadishu warlords.
He did not understand that his reckless words will come to
haunt him in the future. The question is how did he intend
to discharge his duties as the Somali minister of commerce
while the threat he made against civil aviation is hanging
on his neck? The fact is that under the “Montreal Convention
1971 For the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety
of Civil Aviation, Signed at Montreal, on 23 September 1971”,
it is a serous crime to make threats against civilian aviation.
Indeed, there is case pending against Muuse Suudi Yalaxow
at the International Civil Aviation Organization at the moment.
Most probably, he will never be able to fly on a civilian
aircraft. Needless to say, this is another reason why Yalaxow
must be fired from the government. Under international law,
the Somali government is obliged to bring Yalaxow to justice.
And he may be extradited to the International Court of Justice
when indicted.
I believe we need to remind ourselves all the bogus arguments
Sharif Xasan and destructive Mogadishu warlords used to detail
the Somali peace process for the last several months. Let’s
examine some facts:
First, during the initial stages of the Somali peace conference
in Kenya, the warlords were begging to be members of the Somali
Transitional Federal Parliament. As a result, they were included
in the transitional parliament despite their history of warlordism,
violence and the political crimes they committed against the
Somali people as a whole, and in particular, the people in
the areas each warlord control.
Second, when they were accepted as members of the Transitional
Federal Parliament with reluctant political realism, they
did not stop there. Indeed, they created serious of political,
security and legal obstacles during the peace talks including
the clause in the transitional federal Charter, which states
that only the members of the Transitional Federal Parliament
could be appointed as ministers. Needless to say, their strategy
was to dominate the two most import power houses of the Somali
government, namely, the legislative and executive branches.
That strategy succeeded to the extent that all the warlords
were appointed as ministers while those with better educational
backgrounds, better political experience and less Somali blood
on their hands were left out in the cold. Indeed, when President
Abdullahi Yusuf decided to choose Ali Gedi as his Prime Minister,
someone else (Maxamed Dheere) had to vacate a position in
the parliament for him in order to satisfy that clause. Personally,
I do not see the need to have such restrictive clause in the
Charter, which, strangely enough favors those with blood on
their hands. However, I will leave that for future discussions
regarding the Charter and how it could be amended.
Third, when the observers from the international community
and the Somali people came to the same conclusion that the
best way to restore law and order in the war-torn Somali capital
was to bring external security forces under the auspices of
IGAD, the African Union, the Arab League and United Nations
Security Council. The destructive Mogadishu warlords and Sharif
Xasan claimed that President Abdullahi Yusuf was inviting
the Ethiopian army to invade Somalia. Based on that bogus
and deceitful argument, they presented themselves to the Somali
people as the true flag-bearers of Somali Nationalism, while
at the same time they were destroying the Somali peace accord
from within. In my humble opinion, that is nothing less that
an immoral political hypocrisy in action! Wouldn’t you
agree?
Fourth, the Transitional Federal Charter dictates that, the
government must start rebuilding the collapsed Somali institutions
including the Somali National Army, the Somali Police and
the Coast Guard. However, as soon as President Abdullahi Yusuf
and his government began to reassemble Somali security forces,
Sharif and destructive Mogadishu warlords went madly ballistic
by saying that the President is mobilizing tribal army to
invade Mogadishu.
Fifth, when Sharif Xasan finally realized that the fast majority
of the Somali people are no longer willing to dance with the
sounds of his deceitful political drums, he is now saying
that he wants the international community to intervene and
start mediation efforts between the Transitional Federal Government
on one side and Sharif Xasan and the destructive Mogadishu
warlords on the other. This sounds very strange to me and
indeed extremely hypocritical, considering the fact that both
Sharif Xasan and the destructive Mogadishu warlords were adamantly
against foreign intervention of any sort only few months ago.
In addition, if the recent reports coming out of Mogadishu
are anything to go by, Sharif Xasan and warlords are now saying
that are willing to talk unconditionally with President Abdullahi
Yusuf and rest of the Somali Transitional Federal Government
in order to end the conflict they started in the first place.
The fact that Sharif Xasan and destructive Mogadishu warlord
realized their imminent demise should be welcomed by everyone.
However, if Sharif Xasan and the warlords believe that the
crimes they committed against the Somali people will washed
away by a simple trip to Jowhar, they are terribly mistaken.
Sharif Hassan and the destructive Mogadishu warlords must
do the following:
* Muuse Suudi Yalaxow, Maxamed Qanyare Afrax,
Xuseen Caydiid, Cismaan Caato and all the other warlords must
come out from their tribal hiding places and they must condemn
unequivocally the deadly bomb attack against the Somali Prime
Minister that took the lives of so many lives of innocent
Somalis.
* The destructive Mogadishu warlords must
immediately initiate a manhunt in the areas each warlord controls
so that the criminals who have committed that heinous act
of terror against our Prime Minister can be brought to justice
without further delay.
* The destructive Mogadishu warlords must
denounce violence and the senseless killings of innocent Somalis
as a means to achieve their misguided tribalist political
objectives.
* The destructive Mogadishu warlords must
make a public declaration denouncing warlordism.
* The destructive Mogadishu warlords must
join the people’s quest for peace, security, political
stability and economic prosperity by dismantling the tribal
militias they control as dictated by the Somali transitional
federal charter which they were sworn in to abide by it as
the law of the land.
* Sharif Xasan must act an honest and neutral
speaker and joint the majority of the Somali parliamentarians
in Jowhar and discharge his duties. Otherwise, he must relinquish
his role as speaker and do what he seem like doing; acting
as a loader-speaker for the destructive Mogadishu warlords
and other myopic tribalists.
The Somali people have shown enough patience with Sharif
Xasan and the warlords. That patience is running low at the
moment. The bottom-line is, we cannot and we should not watch
silently the continuation of the agony of our people while
Sharif Xasan and the destructive Mogadishu warlords are destroying
the hopes and political aspirations of our people. Enough
is enough!
One Nation, One Somalia!
Wa bilaahi tawfiiq!
Bill Ainashe
Washington, DC.
United States
Email: wainashe@hotmail.com
Internet: www.ainashe.net
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