My story in
Mogadishu-Somalia for 5 months
“It is actually
a report”
“Stories
you read when you're the right age never quite leave you. You may forget who
wrote them or what the story was called. Sometimes you'll forget precisely what
happened, but if a story touches you it will stay with you, haunting the places
in your mind that you rarely ever”.
But
there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got
on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and
heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always a reason of the story,
because hers is where mine begin.
BY HASHIM SHEIKH
ABDINOOR
Economist and
statistician
A researcher of Sompoll
Information
Tracking in Research and analysis
Hear it is Enjoy
My story in Mogadishu-Somalia for 5
months
Somalia is still ranked the world’s
most troubled state: the country hasn’t held a civilian election in 44 years.
Twenty two months ago, thousands of UN-backed African troops won a breakthrough
when they dislodged al-Shabaab from control in Mogadishu and a new government
hankers after stability. But the UN says the effort has cost the lives of 3,000
troops in six years. I have come here to see the consequences of that hard-won
fight, and whether tentative recovery can restore a country battered by dictatorship
and warlordism.
I was told I would be arriving to a
Mogadishu so transformed I’d be constantly stuck in traffic jams, signs of an
economy coming back to life. Instead, I arrived to a ghost town. At Aden Abulle
international airport i was welcomed by my best friend MOHAMED OSMAN HAJI, The
Chairman of Somali congress of Trade Unions (SCTU) writing his name means a lot
to Me. he said "Remove the take-in, throw the suit and be like
others" Jokingly, but they say “when in Rome do as Romans do” it was True.
I love Mogadishu city, Cities were
always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler.
Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love, or
dislike, friendship, or enmity. Where one city will rise a certain individual
to glory, it will destroy another who is not suited to its personality. Only
through travel can we know where we belong or not, where we are loved and where
we are rejected. If you’re willing to work with me and fight with me and stand
with me then I promise you this – we will not only rebuild and renew our
country’s cities, north and south, east and west, but you and I, together, will
rebuild and renew the promise of Somalia.
One brightly painted brick at a
time, the shelled-out city is coming back to life. Along Mogadishu’s tree-lined
drags, shop fronts form a tableau of hope. Outsized poster-paint impressions of
burgers, fizzy drink bottles and doughnuts daub walls where bullets once made
their mark. Renderings of hairdryers, laptops and pressure pumps advertise the
high-tech wares inside. Walls and gates are painted the same bright powder-blue
base which matches the sea, the sky and the national flag. I really love my
flag, the only unique flag on earth.
Elements of al-Shabaab remain in Mogadishu
– some have infiltrated the security apparatus that is meant to hunt them down.
Armed police carry out night patrols in armoured personnel carriers, stopping
to make random checks. Before entering a hotel or restaurant, all visitors are
patted down and searched with metal detectors.
Although it is getting harder to
make and plant bombs and smuggle in semi-automatic weapons without detection,
hand-grenade and pistol attacks are easier to deploy at short notice, and word
of possible targets travels fast. That meant my visit is necessarily brief. Yet
there was no disguising the recovery under way.
Thanks to my colleagues whom I miss
so much in the “fadhi kudirir” Somali language which means (sitting
debate about issues of Politics and other stories) chaired by Issa Mohamed,
Mohamed Osman, Abdiwali Noor (Fagalax), Mohamed Hashi (Afcade), Abdullahi
Abdisalam, Salad Abdullahi and many others. Let me not forget Abdirahman (Atom)
and Asad who later joined the group.
Somali Currency(the dying Shillings
and the Digital Money)
Interesting part, I will turn
the page to the Somali currency. People in the city center of Mogadishu use
“digital Money” I mean mobile money transfer, thanks to Hormuud Telecom,
mostly everywhere you have to use digital money. I remember Mohamed osman and I
went to a local restaurant, then after we ate, the cashier said “5 ii soo
tuur”,I said what? what do we throw? Then Mohamed explained to me that he meant
Transfer the Money to his mobile”. EVC Plus, a system mobile transfer of Hormuud
is the most used Mobile money transfer in Mogadishu. The Somali currency has
been deteriorating since the collapse of the central government in 1991 and
most of the lower denomination currency have lost value and gone out of use.
The US dollar is the second most used currency in Somalia after the local
currency. Most local Somali companies and schools pay monthly salaries in US
dollars and most of the big purchase like cars, houses and goods are bought in
US dollars. Mogadishu is like a state in United States of America (USA) because
almost everyone in the city is using US Dollar.
The country which is in the process
of reconstruction after two decades of civil war — has been trading in US
dollars after its currency lost value due to the instability.
The 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 shilling
notes became worthless after heavy depreciation when the central government of
the late Gen Mohamed Siad Barre collapsed.
Though the 500 and 1,000
denominations survived, only the 1,000 shilling note is currently used.
In 1921, the Shilling was made the
official currency of Somalia.
In 1962, banknotes were distributed
in denominations of 100 shillings, 20 shillings, 10 shillings, and 5 shillings.
In 1967, new coins were distributed
with values of 50 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, and 1 Somali shilling.
As a result of rising inflation,
advanced additional Shilling notes were issued in denominations of 500 and 100
shilling banknotes.
Due to civil unrest in the country,
new Shillings were issued that were equivalent to 100 of the previous
Shillings.
The broken finances of the country
are one of the main reasons the government is so weak. Nearly no one pays any
tax, nor sees any reason why they should. Last year, the government collected
$28.5m in taxes for a nation of around 10m to 11m – a result the country’s
latest budget paper describes as “dismal”. This year, the new government wants
to boost that to $53.9m. But it has also put together a bare-minimum budget of
$114m and, even with external assistance mounting to $30m, there’s a further
$30m shortfall. The government still has little sway outside of Mogadishu. It
needs to deliver services if it can claim to be legitimate and also to show
that it may be worth paying tax if you get something back. At the moment almost
all tax comes from port and airport customs rather than income tax. Donors know
that, for the moment, they will have to help deliver cash and services if the
government is to survive.
The turnround is so impressive that
the new government predicts the economy will soon be growing at 10 per cent, up
from 2 per cent last year. Statistics are hardly the strong point of a country
that hasn’t had a functioning government for 22 years, but the World Bank
estimates that a robust informal economy – led by exports of livestock
– contributes to a GDP of close to
$3bn. Expatriate remittances, at about $1.6bn a year, have long kept the
country going, fuelling a dynamic private sector that has run successful
telecoms, energy and construction companies in the absence of state regulation.
Somalia has only one national trade
Union centre since after the civil war of two decades, Somali Congress of Trade
unions (SCTU) emerged as the only national centre.
The SCTU was founded on the
principles of self-reliance, unity, advancing the interests of the working
class, democratic trade unionism, independence and a strong sense of Global
trade union Solidarity.
To my surprise the founders of this
national trade union center were young motivated leaders between 16 and 35
years old. Mohamed Osman Haji the chairman of SCTU told me “As you know,
workers must be key partners in any national development strategy and Somalia
can only move forward if the workers of Somalia are empowered and play an
active role in development”.
The secretary General of the
congress Mr Abdikadir Abdirahman Damey one of the founders studied in Kenya and
come back to his motherland in the hope that together with his friends uniting
the working class of somalia and advocating their rights. Salad Abdullahi Omar,
the first Secretary General is also among the founders, he is currently
studying his masters of International Relations at University of Nairobi in
Kenya.
These young leaders have one vision,”
seeking to achieve a just society – one which recognises the rights of all
workers and citizens to enjoy the prosperity and fulfilment which leads to a
good quality of life. Quality of life embraces not just material well-being,
but freedom of choice to engage in the arts, culture and all aspects of civic
life. This vision applies in the context of Somalia, Africa and the wider world
and challenges the existing economic order”
As of the mid 1960s CSL was the
largest trade union centre in the country, with fourteen affiliated unions and
claiming around 5,300 members (roughly one percent of wage earners in the
country at the time). Its most important union, FNLPA, was active in the
plantation sector.
In 1965 the Somali Federation of
Labour (based in the northern parts of the country) merged with CSL,
strengthening the position of CSL as the dominant labour force in the country.
As of the late 1960s, Said Yusuf Ali "Bos" was the CSL chairman and
Omar Nur Abd the general secretary of the organization.
IN 1960 - SOMALI LABOR codes were
enacted....
There are approximately 3.7 million workers in Somalia, with nomadic shepherds
and subsistence farmers accounting for 71% of the working population. Industry
and services employed the remaining 29.9%. Since the overwhelming majority of
the population was engaged in stock herding or agriculture, the number of
unemployed was not large, but there was considerable unemployment in the urban
centers. There was no further data available on unemployment in Somalia.
Labor codes were enacted in the
early 1960s for minimum wages, hours of work, employment of women and children,
vacations, and collective bargaining.
Historically Somali trade unionists
played an active role in OAUTUU. Somalia was one of the founders of
OAUTUU. Our own speaker of Parliament
has told us of his days as a trade unionist engaging with OAUTUU along with his
colleague brother Ali Ibrahim who later went on to the work with the ILO.
As of July 2011Somali Congress of
Trade Unions (SCTU) has moved to bring together sectoral trade unions which
were devastated by the long civil war in the country. SCTU sought out and
united recognized leaders of these sectoral unions known to the Somali public
CSL before the war and unified under the umbrella of the SCTU
The Somali Congress of Trade Unions
(SCTU) is an independent, democratic national trade union centre representing
the interests of the working class of Somalia. The SCTU and its affiliated
unions negotiate with employers for better terms and conditions of work. The
SCTU has 8 affiliated unions representing different sectors of the economy. The
SCTU was founded on the principles of social justice, independence and
democracy.
The labour movement of Somalia has
secured its first major victory with the passing of Somalia’s new constitution
on August 1st 2012. This constitution
for the first time addresses labour relations in Article 24. The Somali Congress of Trade unions (SCTU)
pushed hard for the passing of the new constitution of Somalia.
SCTU played an important role,
participated at the national constitutional committee meeting and influenced
the language in the constitution in line with labour issues
- E.g. the right to strike
- Freedom of association
- Parliament was in the process to
develop rules of procedures
- One of the committees to be
formed by the parliament is a social committee with a subcommittee on labour
and employment
Trade unions talk about a revival
in agriculture, hotels and port activity. Their members have battled al-Shabaab
threats and imprisonment to turn out regular market data reports, logging the
fluctuating prices of camel milk, jerry cans of diesel, goats and imported red
rice in Mogadishu’s Bakara market. Today Somalia has more than 52,000 trade
union members. Thanks to the young leaders who are committed the development of
Somalia.
The recent announcement of a record
down fall of the Somali Shilling has elicited sharp remarks from the Somali
Trade Union, showing that they are afraid of shooting up of commodity
prices that will affect the workers and the entire economy of Somalia. The
trade union has appealed to the Somali government to put up stringent measures
to avoid food crisis for its members..they also showed concern of the rise of
fuel by the Energy sector is part of the scheme to enrich a few on behalf of
the majority poor .It is important to put in place long term measures to
encourage more investors the Union said.
Thanks to the upsurge in commercial
flights. In little over a year, the number of aircraft landing a day has risen
from three to 12, says Ahmed Ibrahim Iman, a 29-year-old airport manager. Dubai
and Turkey both run commercial airlines into the beachside city, and import
fish, fruit and meat from Somalia. But it is a costly tale of recovery. Ahmed’s
father, Ibrahim Iman Halane, was airport manager before him and was
assassinated last year. “He was killed in town – he went to pray and when he
left, two al-Shabaab attacked with pistols,” says Ahmed, explaining that his
father’s job made him a target. The revival of the airport is, like the
functioning courthouse, among the most telling symbols of Mogadishu’s recovery.
“Al-Shabaab say it’s about religion but it’s not – it’s politics.”
I met almost all the big players in
the government, some talk about change, some are bewildered, some are there for
salary, some are corrupted, some don’t know even what is going on.
Oh! No, Guys...., “this is not the
new Somalia I was expected. We need change” whispered deep from my heart, I
wish they could hear the Echo.
After an absence of more than 30
years, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed has returned to Somalia, the country of his
birth. Last year he gave up his job as a civil servant in the housing sector in
Canada to take up a position as one of only 10 ministers in Mogadishu’s new,
slim line cabinet.
We asked about a recent incident
whereby an Amisom ship has smashed Somali fisheries Union nets, he said “the
Government is still investigating on that”
As minister for natural resources
in a dysfunctional country divided by a continuing war, he has to oversee a
bulging portfolio that includes water, agriculture, the environment and
livestock. As if that were not enough, his brief now also includes hydrocarbons
just as Somalia – and east Africa more broadly – has become one of the most
attractive frontiers in oil exploration for leading companies such as Royal
Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips.
“The president and I have
discussions every day about oil,” says Mr Mohamed in his office that looks out
at the Indian Ocean across the tumbledown city of Mogadishu. Late last year,
Somalia caught the attention of foreign oil companies by announcing it intended
to auction some of 308 newly delineated oil blocks this year.
The world’s leading oil companies
are increasingly accepting that their quest for new reserves will take them
into challenging new territory. In regions such as the Arctic, the problems are
technical.
Around the Horn of Africa,
companies must calculate whether political and security risks will put too
heavy a burden on their production costs. This is hazardous territory in which
to operate. A chunk of Somalia is still under the control of al-Shabaab, jihadi
militants allied with al-Qaeda. Its wa-ters are the hunting ground of pirates,
who since 2005 have earned close to $400m by ransoming 149 vessels.
The politics is also messy,
internecine and riven by militias. Oil companies in the race for contracts find
themselves unsure whether the power lies in Mogadishu or in semi-autonomous
regions such as Puntland or self-declared states such as Galmudug. Somaliland
to the north, bordering Djibouti, has declared itself a fully independent
republic.
Attempts to carve up oil blocks
before the Mogadishu government even controls the whole national territory are
undermining efforts to bring peace and stability to a state that has been shattered
by 22 years of war and that exports terrorism. The race to lay claim to
resources risks triggering wider conflicts: regional authorities have been
hostile to central government since the 22-year military dictatorship of Siad
Barre. When he was deposed in 1991, warlords carved up the country – and
several clan-based militias still hold sway, sometimes cutting deals with
al-Shabaab.
The danger is that the race for oil
will feed a destabilising rivalry between Mogadishu and other regions – some
still influenced by former warlords – just as the international community is
celebrating progress. UK ambassador Matt Baugh says the situation remains
“very, very fragile”. Rival administrations have issued several companies
rights to a clutch of overlapping oil blocks, redrawing the political map of
Somalia in line with their own interests.
On an international level,
disagreement between Kenya and Somalia over their maritime boundary has also
created what one diplomat terms a “triangle of confusion” reaching across
120,000 square kilometres.
Kenyan troops defend the port of
Kismayo, south of Mogadishu, notionally in support of the Mogadishu government,
but Somali officials worry Kenya is keener on securing oil rights.
“The biggest conflicts right now
among Somalis are all about oil rights . . . oil is the
main player in all of this mess,” says Mohamed Nur of Dissident Nation, a lobby
group. “But it’s also a force that allows all sides to have bargaining chips
and have an equal role in the future of the nation.”
Indeed, seven months into the job,
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called for a consensus, saying he has not
yet signed any oil deals. He has also called on international oil companies not
to cut their own deals with regional authorities because “that will block their
future engagement in Somalia”.
The Somali government has already
started discussions with two previous concession holders Eni and Shell – that
want to reclaim their pre-1991 blocks and enter into production sharing
agreements, says a senior government official. He adds that Conoco is also
ready to reclaim its stake and that BP is considering the idea.
The move shows how quickly tensions
can be inflamed because Liberty’s concession overlaps an offshore block also
claimed by Shell. In a letter of April 24, Shell asked the Somali authorities
to take action to safeguard its “exclusive rights” to the block.
In Galmudug itself, they see things
differently. The president there is Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid, a former warlord
portrayed in Black Hawk Down, the film of the disastrous 1993 US mission when
Somali militants downed US helicopters and dragged US corpses through the
streets. His Minister of internal Mr
…..told me that he believed his
agreement with Liberty was in line with the new provisional, federal
constitution.
“We are not feeling any guilt for
this kind of thing,” he says. “If there is a problem between the government and
Galmudug we need to discuss, including Shell and Liberty and everyone, let them
come to court.”
Maryam Qasim, a minister of social Developments,
I met her in her office, I said “your Ministry represents the hopes and
aspirations of the Somali people to forge a new future. We know that you are
expert who specialised in as an obstetrics and gynecology doctor as well as a
teacher and reseracher for over 15 years, you are very passionate about
community work and changing our community for the better. You have worked
extensively in community projects, so what has your ministry done so far? She
talks about new education system “One million go to school” and change in
health system. But still she is worried of whether she will be staying when she
mentioned about reshuffles that might happen.
I also met Abdullahi Alimoge Hirsi,
the Minister of Information in his office, he says the government has made
commitment to maintain full competition by keeping the post and
telecommunication sectors open.” Dalka Newspaper is back. Initially in Somali
Language, but soon in other langues as well. Hope this will enable Somalis in
the diaspora to get latest news from home” continues the Minister. The
government officials and I met on Sunday in Mogadishu with officials from the
United Nations Development Program and representatives from Civil Aviation
Caretaker Authority of Somalia (CACAS) based in Nairobi. The meeting
officially declared transfer supervision of the country’s airspace to Somalia
federal government in Mogadishu” Said the Minister.
SIDEBAR
Development: A tangle of converging
foreign interests
In recent years, foreign
involvement in Somalia has been characterized as part of an effort to combat
terrorism.
But now Somalis are quick to
identify a new set of self-interested motives. “Of course it’s all about oil,”
says one senior Somali adviser about Norway’s growing interest in his country.
Norway, whose state oil company
Statoil is exploring off east Africa, has made various commitments to Somalia.
Oslo has installed solar-powered lamps on the streets of Mogadishu and is
setting up a special $30m finance facility.
Last month a Somali parliamentary
delegation visited Oslo to discuss co-operation, development and the management
of natural resources.
Most critically, these talks
included discussion of a triangle of water disputed between Kenya and Somalia.
The Somali parliamentarians rejected
a 2009 agreement by the previous transitional government to sign away the
triangle to Kenya. That has raised the political stakes surrounding the status
of Jubaland, a proposed Somali region neighbouring Kenya that would hold sway
over the disputed offshore zone. Diplomats say that Kenya, whose peacekeeping
troops guard Kismayo, the port at the economic heart of Jubaland, is keen to
assert influence there, against the wishes of the new Mogadishu government.
This tension between Somalia and
Kenya matters to western oil interests. Somalia has already warned Statoil,
along with Total and Eni, not to accept any oil concessions offered by Kenya in
the disputed triangle.
Oslo lobbied hard for a Norwegian
to become UN envoy to Somalia. That job instead went this month to a diplomat
from the UK, which last week hosted an important conference on Somalia.
The attendees at the conference
revealed the range of interests converging on Somalia. Qatar, for example, is
an investor in Shell.
Turkey has led a diplomatic charge
for Somalia by setting up an embassy outside the secure airport compound and
delivering prominent support, such as a camp for displaced people, a technical
college and scholarships.
In the cold war, the Soviet Union
and the US competed for influence in Somalia. But the competing forces are now
eminently more complex.
Three weeks ago, the UN admitted
the huge loss of 3,000 troops since 2007 – equal to the total number of UN
peacekeepers killed globally in more than 10 times as many years and missions.
Amisom officials previously played down the numbers in the face of their
adversaries’ incessant propaganda. In recent years, al-Shabaab leaders have
delivered hurried, gloating messages via radio, internet forums and Twitter and
harangued targets by telephone. They have mutilated Amisom soldiers’ bodies,
paraded them on television, and “disappeared” them into mass graves. Al-Shabaab
is still sending young men on suicide missions in the capital it no longer controls.
“But you find people are not willing to die for an unknown person – only for
high-value targets,” I’m told by a young man whom al-Shabaab has repeatedly
tried to recruit.
The city ignores al-Shabaab. The
Chamber of Commerce says it has registered 260 companies in the past four
months alone, bringing the total to 351, in sectors ranging from internet
services to agricultural exports. “More than 35 per cent are [owned by]
diaspora,” says managing director Abdi Dorre, himself a one-time refugee who was
taken in by Sweden in the 1990s. Among the returnees – whom the UN estimates at
more than 60,000 last year.
“A lot of people are investing –
houses in Mogadishu are now fetching $1m, can you imagine that?” Last year, he
says, the same properties would have gone for $100,000-$150,000, figures echoed
by several playing the property market. “It just went 800 per cent up and there
is no economics to sustain it. People have serious money. But you can’t tell
yet if it will last or if it’s just speculative.
”That calculation is not only being
made by diaspora returnees. Everyone from warlords to foreign investors is
deciding whether to throw in their lot with Somalia’s new dispensation. “It can
change from paradise to hell in a second,” says a beachgoer. “One day you’re
swimming on Lido Beach; the next day it’s a war zone.”
But still they come. Walking down
the beach is so beautiful that the risk seems to recede. The sand is fine, the
water shallow and the breeze perfect. But our security detail stops us – a foot
further and we’d be in the next section, where government workers are hammering
away at the old police station. That association with the state would make us
targets. So we dawdle on our patch of sand, protected by Kalashnikovs. I become
used to the unlikely combination of beach and guns and the men who criss-cross
their ammunition belts across their chest and waist.
Life wasn’t always like this. The
city’s residents remember their mothers plunging into the sea in bikinis, right
up to the 1980s. Women sported afros and hooped earrings.
. . .
Somalia’s cosmopolitan past dates
back centuries, to when it was on a seaborne silk route furnishing the world
with goods from China, Egypt and beyond. Much later, Mogadishu became a
playground for Italians.
They put up whitewashed arches in
their 1930s colony, palms blowing on boulevards beside the sunny seaside.
Efforts to cultivate conservatism were long unsuccessful – in 1819 a sheikh in
southern Somalia outlawed tobacco and folk dancing and made women wear the veil
but it was an isolated attempt.
“If the city were a person it would
refuse to communicate with its residents,” he tells me, saying the original
residents have been dispossessed. He says they have been replaced by warlords,
rapists and those who have expropriated property and whose presence makes
reconciliation impossible. “[If Mogadishu could speak] the city would be
telling them its secrets, sharing its sorrow with these people … it’s proven to
be very difficult to get in touch with the soul of the city.”
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
admits reconciliation is a long way off. He says he wants to introduce an
annual Day of Forgiveness and send peace caravans around the country. But not
yet. “The nation has to go into a healing process, which will take some time …
but for the time being we are more focused on the security.”
Many believe Mohamud is the
country’s best hope in years. Part-educated in India, he later set up a
university in Mogadishu and is a long-term advocate of peace. Nine months ago
he was selected by parliamentarians to make good on security gains and lead a
new government.
The capture of a senior
al-Qaeda-linked Islamist in Somalia may seem like a fresh victory for the
western-backed government. But the arrest of Hassan Dahir Aweys, the spiritual
leader of al-Shabaab, late in June has presented the fragile administration
with a difficult dilemma.
In recent years, UN-backed African
troops have pushed al-Shabaab militants out of the capital Mogadishu,
increasing hopes for stability in a country known for piracy and terrorism and
torn apart by civil war for nearly 20 years.
Now international diplomats want Mr
Aweys to face justice in court, either in Somalia or elsewhere, for his alleged
role in suicide bombings and terror attacks in the Horn of Africa. “We believe
Aweys should be brought to justice,” Brian Phipps, acting special representative
for Somalia for the US, said.
But the government in Mogadishu
fears this will destabilise a fragile peace. “It is a nightmare. I wish we had
not got him,” a senior government official told me. “We are risking attack from
al-Shabaab; we are risking attack from the clan,” he said. The weak and
isolated government relies on support from Mr Aweys’ clan, which has complained
about the handling of the case.
Officials in the Mogadishu
government have suggested Mr Aweys could be sent to the Gulf state of Qatar, a
nation that has funded Islamists in the past, including Mr Aweys. Qatar is home
to a Taliban representative office, with the aim of facilitating talks between
the Afghan militants and the west. It is not clear under what conditions Qatar
would accept Mr Aweys or if indeed it would. Officials in Qatar could not be
reached for comment.
In any case, Mr Aweys, listed by
both the UN and the US as a terrorist since 2001, is subject to a UN travel ban
and cannot leave Somalia.
The UN’s Somalia envoy, Nick Kay,
said “the decision is for the Somalis” but urged the president and leadership
to comply with Security Council resolutions that prevent him from travelling.
Though Somalia is in theory bound
by the travel ban, there are possible temporary exceptions to it. Mr Aweys – in
his late 70s with a distinctive orange-dyed beard – remains under house arrest
by Somali intelligence service, on what officials said were doctors’ orders.
“[Next week] what will happen is
interrogation or investigation or questioning will start and from then on all
options are on the table,” said Abdirahman Omar Osman Yarisow, spokesman for
the president. “If he starts to choose the path of peace, then he has to
renounce violence and ask forgiveness of the people and then . . . make a
decision to apply for an exemption [to the travel ban] to travel due to health
reasons.”
Citing health grounds could help
the Security Council justify lifting the travel ban temporarily, officials
said. Any suspension or movement to Qatar would probably come with conditions
restricting his movement and political activity.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the US
was prepared to be pragmatic about this; having him in a gilded cage in Qatar
is better than having him roaming around at large in Somalia. He’d effectively
be neutralised; this takes him out of play,” said former Hizbul Islam spokesman
whom I met in Safari Hotel.
Mr Aweys fled for his life last
month after splits within al-Shabaab turned violent. Members of his clan then
tried to secure his safe passage to Mogadishu. But on arrival in the capital,
those accompanying him were beaten by government security forces and Mr Aweys
was arrested.
The government holds little sway
beyond the capital over which it claims authority and the nature of his arrest
could reignite tensions within an administration that relies on support from Mr
Aweys’ clan.
“Aweys doesn’t have a large number
of supporters or followers. He’s a marginal player but circumstances have
propelled him back to centre stage. Now [his clan] is up in arms, whether they
like Aweys or not, against the government and the way they feel the government
has handled his case,” said Mr Bryden.
Officials are also mindful of the
fact that the treatment of Mr Aweys may influence the behaviour of other senior
recent al-Shabaab defectors, notably Mukhtar Robow. Mr Robow, who is still at
large, fought in Afghanistan.
Despite the splits in al-Shabaab,
it is unclear that the movement has been weakened by the infighting. Hardline
leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who favours international jihad over the others’ more
nationalist agenda, has successfully ousted the pragmatists. But consolidating
his power over a more isolated extremist movement may make fundraising and
recruitment harder.
“[Aweys] is another piece off the
chess board but he was never really a danger anyway – the queen’s still on the
board,” said one official in the Somali government, referring to Mr Godane.
Conclusion
In concluding, I am a researcher, statistician and
economist at the same time, and I am a proud Muslim and citizen of Somalia. But
there are times when I feel that hiding my nationality would be best for me,
and then realize it is shameful to think this way. Why are people from
certain part of Africa (Horn of Africa) or who practice a particular religion
being concerned just because of a “few” radicalists!? We live in a world where
irrational generalization hamper the potential for peace and love among all
humankind needs to prevail above everything else but unfortunately we are too
often forced to think along the wrong lines.
My goal in contributing this
article is to reveal how I, as a Somali, feel when I hear people stereotype me
as a “Som” or a “terrorist” (ALSHABAB). I know there is a segment of my society
that forces many people into considering every Muslim-or in fact, every Somali
– as a hardcore fundamentalist. But Somalia is worlds ally in the war against
terrorism. As a nation, we are struggling ourselves and this added stigma
doesn’t do us any favors. Rather, it demotivates us and makes us look for a
reason why we seek to become a nation among equals. Like everyone else in
civilized society, we, too, are against Islamic fundamentalists who are not
trying to mingle our religion, but who are destroying Somalis image in the
world, too. It is our people who suffer most of the hands of these radicals. On
21st may 2007 they killed my only innocent uncle Hassan Shabel,
“Shabel” was his nickname, Somali language which means “leopard” maybe they
feared of him to hunt them down. They never stop on that, recently three weeks
ago, they killed his son, my cuisine, I received a phone call from my Elder
brother Mohamed Deq early in the morning on 15th May 2013 around
5:00am telling me that shidane is dead and he shot down by young men armed with
pistols. It was really pain. Consider these statistics to demonstrate how the
Somali people suffer.
ESTIMATE
Last 6 years 2008-2013
- Number of
terrorist attacks/ incidents in Somalia = 34
- Deaths =
313
- Injured
people = 611
I could write pages and pages about
how the majority of people in my nation feel right now, but the crux of my
argument is this: I respectfully request every reader out there to maintain
your rationality and not to keep generalizing about Somalia and Somali people.
My country has been sabotaged and our education, our sports, our tourism, and
our everyday lives have been turned upside down. At the very least, we ask the
young people of the world to support us in these difficult times. Trust me, is
it not easy living here as suicide go off on daily basis. The value of life is
quickly descending down to zero, but we are a strong nation and we will fight
off these difficult times. I salute my armed forces and the Amisoms who done
really well in pushing the extremists militants back to where they come from.
Everyone needs to play his or her
part in this. As for me, I am practicing in the war against terrorism by
conveying to all readers the feeling and hopes of every Somali citizens. One
doesn’t have to pick up guns to fight a war. I second the school of thoughts
that believes the pen is mightier than the sword. My advices to all of you out
there is never jump to conclusions about anyone and play your part in restoring
peace to this panic stricken earth.
All of us need to believe in
ourselves and we need to play in making this world a better place to live in.
life is short, we need to be understanding and fair with each other. I love you
all and ask you to wish my country peace and freedom.
By Hashim Sheikh Abdinoor
