Somaliland Forum Media Release Saturday, January 27, 2001 Ref. SF/EC-028-2001
The UN seems to have accepted Abdiqasim Salat Hassan’s pretensions to being the head of a government in Somalia.
A delighted Mr. Hassan rattled off his successes in an interview this month, citing recognition by the UN, recognition by IGAD, recognition by the Arab League and recognition by the Organization of Islamic countries (Al-Hayat Issue no.13814, 9 January 2001) So far so good for him.
However, Mr. Hassan forgot to add one point, which may be small and insignificant in his eyes, but matters to the rest of us: the people of ex-Somali Republic.
What about recognition by the people of Somalia proper and political factions in that country some of whom have set up their own regional state structures? What about recognition just by the people and factions of Mogadishu, the city he calls his capital?
Mr. Hassan was forced to concede the truth in the interview: He does not control the city of Mogadishu, the capital, let alone the whole country of Somalia.
He also admitted that President Guelleh of Djibouti decided which personalities were mustered at Arta, Djibouti, where Mr. Hassan was appointed ‘president.’
With staggering callousness, Djibouti invited the principal remnants of former Somali dictator Siyad Barre’s regime, including known war criminals such as former generals Morgan and Ganni. The very people who ruined the ex-Somali Republic and committed countless massacres, before they were overthrown by popular revolt, met as an ‘assembly’ of Somalis and set the agenda that led to Mr. Hassan’s appointment.
We, from independent Somaliland — a country which stepped back in 1991 from a never-ratified union with Somalia proper in 1960 — have no illusions about the aims of the President of Djibouti: His prime objectives are regional and foremost among them is setting up a puppet regime in Mogadishu, Somalia, to fight his undeclared war against the peaceful and independent Somaliland, whose free economy he wrongly perceives as a threat to his own.
UN POLICIES ON SOMALIA IS WRONG We have an issue with the UN Secretariat whose policies in relation to the ex-Somali Republic are patently wrong. The Secretariat has endorsed a newly formed faction of Barre era personalities headed by Mr. Hassan. As a former interior minister in Barre’s government, Mr. Hassan’s department exercised control over the police forces which, coupled with the army, were responsible for the atrocities committed against the Somali people. As well, Mr. Hassan’s choice for a prime minister, Mr. Galayr, is a man accused of involvement in a massive scam of public funds in the 1980s (see AFP, “Somalia’s new PM …” 9 Oct 2000 8:20:24 PDT).
We have an issue with the UN Secretariat whose policies in relation to the ex-Somali Republic are patently wrong. The Secretariat has endorsed a newly formed faction of Barre era personalities headed by Mr. Hassan. As a former interior minister in Barre’s government, Mr. Hassan’s department exercised control over the police forces which, coupled with the army, were responsible for the atrocities committed against the Somali people. As well, Mr. Hassan’s choice for a prime minister, Mr. Galayr, is a man accused of involvement in a massive scam of public funds in the 1980s (see AFP, “Somalia’s new PM …” 9 Oct 2000 8:20:24 PDT).The fact is Messrs. Hassan and Galeray’s so-called government is not a solution for Somalia’s problems. There is a conflict in Somalia and there are warring parties. No conflict resolution, involving all the parties in the conflict has been concluded. No agreements on the disengagement of armed militias and land conflicts have been formulated. No consensus on federal structures, respecting the wills of the peoples of the different regions, has emerged. That is why Mr. Hassan’s so-called government with or without UN endorsement is not a solution in any sense.
On the other hand if that “government” receives international aid, such as the $100 million that Mr. Galayr recently asked from the UN, it could become bold enough to try to take on the older factions and thereby rekindle the dwindling conflict between the older factions.
AN APPEAL TO WORLD LEADERS
We appeal to sensible world leaders not to grant funds to Messrs. Hassan and Galayr under the label of a ‘government of Somalia.’ Everyone should ask themselves: What are they going to do with the millions they are requesting left and right, as if their sole objective in this scheme is soliciting funds. Almost $1 billion from the Italians, so many millions from the oil states, and $100 million from the UN? So far, their only known project is to recruit more freelance militias into their newly-formed militia and expand their current toehold in Mogadishu.
AN INTRICATE WEB OF SHADY BUSINESSES
People everywhere should know that what really ties together the Arta faction, as Mr. Hassan’s Made-In-Djibouti faction is popularly known, and their supporters in Djibouti, is an intricate web of business relations which entwine many of its major figures:
For instance, Mr. Galayr, the “prime minister,” is a business associate of Mr. Boreh, a Djibouti business man who happens also to be a relative and confidant of President Guelleh (See The Indian Ocean Newsletter “Boreh Is a Happy Man,” No. 917 - 16/09/2000); in turn Mr. Boreh is a business associate of a Mogadishu businessman, Mr. Mohamed Deilaf, a cousin of Abdiqasim Salat Hassan; Mr. Deilaf is also a principal shareholder in the TV station Horn Afrik in Mogadishu, a pro-Arta faction station. Already potential contracts have been promised to Mr. Boreh by the “government” of Messrs. Hassan and Galayr (See Africa Confidential, “Hope from the North,” 17 March 2000; see also The Indian Ocean Newsletter, “Somalia: Making Do and Mending,” No. 912, 15 July 2000). And if things were not sleazy enough in this intricate web of associates and business friends, the owner of the Hotel Ramadan, where Messrs. Hassan and Mr. Galayr’s government is housed, Mr. Abuker Aden, is also an associate and friend of the group; another business associate and partisan is Mr. Enow whose wife, Khadija Ossobleh Ali, is a minister in Messrs. Hassan and Galayr’s government, responsible for collecting aid for the government (See Osman Hassan, Associated Press Writer, “Somalia’s Govt. Starts Fund-Raising,” The Associated Press,10 Dec 2000; see also The Indian Ocean Newsletter, “Somalia: Private war in Balad,” No. 931, 23 December2000); she is also the president of an ONG, slated to receive international financing to organize a program termed ‘demobilization of militias’ in Mogadiscio but whose true aim is to muster a militia force for the Djibouti-appointed government of Messrs. Hassan and Galayr; and finally, it was the two latter business men who hired the militiamen who attacked unsuccessfully faction leader Sudi Yalahow’s territory in Balad last December. Ask yourselves: Is this what the UN is endorsing as a ‘government’—a cartel in replacement of the dictatorship that destroyed the lives and the homes of hundreds of thousands of Somalis?
SOMALILAND HAS ALL THE STRUCTURES OF A SOVEREIGN STATE
As far as Somaliland is concerned, it does not need Mr. Hassan and his faction to bring it a government: Somaliland has a government, a bicameral parliament, an independent judiciary and what is more stability and a functioning economy. The people of Somaliland liberated themselves, after a decade long war with the Mogadishu regime of Somalia, waged from 1981 to 1991, despite the massive genocide committed on them by the Siad Barre regime, the very same government in which Mr. Hassan served as a minister until the day of its fall. Estimates of civilians shot indiscriminately by that regime in 1988’s range from 150,000 to 200,000. With their country liberated, Somalilanders, in 1991, took stock of their relationship with Somalia, the ex-Italian Somalia, and decided to reclaim their sovereignty within the frontiers of the State of Somaliland of 1960 whose own frontiers were inherited from the British Protectorate of Somaliland.
WHAT IS NEEDED FROM THE UN
What the people of Somalia proper need from the UN and the Secretary-General is help with a genuine reconciliation effort involving all the political factions and all the issues of the conflict, not the onus of an additional faction that trots the international scene, soliciting funds for a war chest and Swiss bank accounts. What the people of Somaliland need from the UN is to respect their collective will for self-determination in the same way that the UN has respected the will of the people of Eritrea when they opted out of Ethiopia.
SOMALILAND FORUM
SLF Background: The Somaliland Forum (SLF) is an international organization that brings together Somalilanders from all parts of the world mainly, through the medium of the Internet. The primary objective of the Forum is to work with the Somaliland communities around the world in order to provide some lasting solutions to the needs of the Republic of Somaliland and its people. For more information, Please visit forum’s web site at: http://www.somalilandforum.com FOR MORE INFORMATION, CHECK OUR CONTACT PAGE: