Ainashe.net

Oryem Okello; the Ugandans Minister of State for Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying:

We have decided that at this particular time, we should not go to Somalia.

The Minister went on by saying:

The situation has deteriorated rapidly — it risks all-out war.

This is a great victory for the Somali people. No country should help facilitate Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. I hope other countries will act wisely and follow Uganda’s lead.

Click here to view the article on the Reuters’ Alertnet.

A new, yet to be released UN Report is claiming that the Iranian Government is secretly trying to exploit Uranium deposits in middle Somalia.

Click here to view the full report (PDF) on the Pajamas Media.

Liam Bailey of Desicritics writes:

The 15 Member United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1725 Dec. 6 2006. The U.S led resolution authorizes a regional force from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union (AU) to establish a protection and training mission in Somalia. And the lifting of the UN arms embargo in relation to supplying the peacekeeping force. The previous UN mission in the country, started similarly but ended in a bloody battle and the death of 18 Marines attempting to disarm rival factions. The current resolution states its intention to consider taking measures against those that seek to prevent or block a peaceful dialogue process, overthrow the Transitional Federal Institutions by force, or take action that further threatens regional stability. Suggesting that, like its predecessor it could become far more than a protection and training mission, which may well have an adverse effect regional stability.

I agree entirely with Liam. The UN resolution is just a farce!

Click here to view the full article on Desicritics.org

Sayid Qutb; the intellectual father of radical political Islam wrote:

In summary, anything that requires a touch of elegance is not for the American, even haircuts! For there was not one instance in which I had a haircut when I did not return home to even with my own hands what the barber had wrought, and fix what the barber had ruined with his awful taste.

Does this mean that Sayid Qutb’s rejection of Western values stems from the fact that he got a bad hair cut in Greeley, Colorado, while he was a visiting scholar in United States in 1948-50? I am not so sure but some are saying so!

Click here to view full article on Rolf Putts website.

In an editorial the Arab News says:

The Arab League’s decision Sunday in Cairo to break the economic embargo imposed by the United States and Europe on the Hamas-led Palestinian administration was long overdue. Indeed it may be asked why any Arab state ever subscribed to this unjust punishment of a country, simply because its people had elected a government that Washington did not like. Hamas’ crime in American eyes was that it refused to recognize Israel and had used terror tactics, including suicide bombers. Yet no such sanctions were ever contemplated against Israel, which does not recognize Palestine and uses its own terror tactics to slay far greater number of Palestinians than the number of Israelis who fall victim to militant violence.

The people in the United States voted for Bush and the Palestinians elected Hamas led government. I am not a big fan of the Bush Adminstration or Hamas!

However, democracy is an expression of the political will of free people and sometimes it produces what some people may perceive as undesirable outcomes. However, the West cannot say, “We want to see democratized Middle East” and at the same time oppose the verdict that the very democratic political process they claim to advocate has delivered. To me that is an immoral double standard which the Muslim world must reject outright!

In short, the Arab League did the right thing to reject the misguided US policy towards the Palestinian people.

Click here to view the full editorial on the Arab News.

Max Hastings, former Editor-In-Chief of the London Evening Standard writes:

We have learned a lot since 9/11. George Bush, abetted by Tony Blair, resolved that terrorists must be hunted down in their supposed breeding and training grounds, in Afghanistan (true) and Iraq (false). Neither military engagement has proved an unqualified success. Pakistan’s radicals pose a grave threat, but even the Washington neo-conservatives do not now propose committing troops against them. The most plausible lesson of recent experiences is that it is counter-productive to deploy large-scale western military forces in Muslim societies, even where there seem just grounds for doing so.

I agree with Mr. Hastings that using military force will make the situation worse. The injustices committed against the Palestinian people are fueling hostilities towards “Western” powers! The West cannot close their eyes about this any longer!

Click here to view the full article on The Guardian newspaper.

The Spero News reports:

A large deployment of forces is underway along the border between Kenya and Somalia. The Kenyan armed forces were widely deployed along the border with the Gedo region (extreme south of Somalia) and particularly at the El-Wakh border pass. “Military troops, police and armoured vehicles are massed at the El-Wakh village in Kenya”, said this morning a local correspondent of a top Mogadishu radio. Residents of villages of the Gedo region along the border confirmed the troop movements on the other side of the border, specifying that the first reinforcements began arriving in the zone shortly after the militants of the Islamic Courts on September 25 seized the city of Kismaayo.

It looks like that Somalia is under attack from many fronts!

Click here to view the full article on Spero News

The Malaysian News Agency (Bernama) reports:

Somalia’s powerful Islamist movement declared “holy war” against neighboring Ethiopia after a Muslim-held town near the seat of the weak government fell to Ethiopian and Somali troops. A day after warning of a regional war if Addis Ababa does not withdraw from Somali territory, the Islamists escalated their rhetoric, vowing to repel Ethiopian soldiers in a tacit warning to the transitional government. “From today, I am declaring jihad against Ethiopia, which has invaded our country and taken parts of our homeland,” said Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, chair of the executive committee of the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS). “The jihad is on from now (and) application of that will be directed by the supreme council,” he said in Mogadishu, which the Islamists seized in June and have used as a base to expand through most of south and central Somalia.

War is not the solution to Somalia’s tragic political conflict. However, Ethiopian invasion of Somalia must not be allowed to happen at any cost! Somalia must be allowed to exist as a free nation. Hence, Ethiopia must respect Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Click here for the full article

The online “Peace Peporter” writes:

The moment feared so much may have arrived. Monday morning, following the conquest of the center of Buur Hakaba on the part of joint Somali and Ethiopian forces, the Islamic courts have declared a holy war against Ethiopia, accused of having invaded the country and of being the party responsible for Somali instability.

Click here to view the full article.

Sunguta West writing for the “Global Terrorism Analysis” of the James Town Foundation says:

The ICU remains under the leadership of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who observers say is a moderate Islamist responsible for steering the courts in a convincing political direction and establishing a sense of law and order in Mogadishu and the southern parts of the country. Yet within this period, one of his moderate deputies, Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, has appeared to bloom, speaking frequently and outlining ICU policy on issues including the training of its militia, peace talks and sometimes defending the courts when they make unpopular or extremist decisions. With the courts enjoying success after wrestling Somalia’s formal capital from a faction of warlords, Sheikh Omar defended the courts against accusations that the Islamists were harboring wanted terrorists in Mogadishu. Sheikh Omar, who is one of the vice chairmen of the executive council of the ICU, had on behalf of the courts said that such claims were not true. “If you can find a terrorist, let us know,” he told journalists in June. “If we find one we are very much prepared to hand him over. There are no foreign terrorists in Mogadishu” (Islam-Online.net, June 18).

I am not sure political significance of what Sunguta West is talking about.

Be the judge and read the full article by clicking here.

Dr. Michael A. Weinstein of The Power and Interest News Report (PINR):

Far from ameliorating the polarized power configuration pitting the I.C.C. against Ethiopia, which is determined to defend the T.F.G. and prevent the emergence of an Islamic state in Somalia, the second round of the Khartoum process — brokered by the Arab League (A.L.) — intensified the confrontation and spawned new conflicts. With all the players under severe duress, all of Somalia came into play, regional actors polarized as Western powers watched from the sidelines, and cracks appeared within Somalia’s society as local and clan conflicts surfaced, portending the possibility of civil war and a return to the extreme political fragmentation that had characterized the country before the I.C.C.’s surge through its southern and central regions in early June, after the Courts movement had expelled the ruling warlord coalition from Somalia’s official capital Mogadishu.

Interesting analysis! However, I just got the article from PINR through email few minutes ago and I will need to read it properly. Hopefully, I will be able to make a comment about this later this week.

In the meantime, you may like to click here to view the full article on the PINR.

The BBC News reports:

The African Union has approved plans to send 8,000 peacekeepers to Somalia to support the interim government. An alliance of Islamic courts which controls the capital and much of central and southern Somalia says it will oppose any deployment by force. A meeting at AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, agreed that the first soldiers should be in place by the end of the month. But obstacles remain as the AU does not have the funds to pay for the troops. The approval for the force by the African Union Peace and Security Council also appears to fly in the face of a shaky agreement between Somalia’s interim government and the Islamic courts not to allow any foreign intervention.

This is a big political mistake that could potentially ignite new armed confrontation between Somali Army on one side and Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf and his tribal militia with Ethiopian army on the other side. As I wrote before, Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf and the failed TFG must understand that the political legitimacy cannot be achieved through the barrel of the gun. It must be earned through popular support!

The Somali people must defend their country against the looming threat of foreign invasion!

Click here to view then full dispatch by the BBC.

To date contributors to WFP’s Somalia programme in 2006 are:

United States: US$26.2 million
UK Department for International Development: US$9.64 million
The Netherlands: US$5.3 million
Saudi Arabia: US$3 million
Canada: US$1.3 million
Ireland: US$1.2 million
Italy: US$1.17 million
Sweden: US$1.16 million
United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund: US$851,000
Australia: US$752,000
Belgium: US$643,000
Finland: US$605,000
African Development Bank: US$500,000
Switzerland: US$379,000
Turkey: US$300,000
Norway: US$206,000
US Friends of WFP: US$74,000
Private donations: US$55,000

WFP needs a total of US$37 million to assist 1.1 million people in Somalia until July 2007.

Click here for more on this. You may also click here to learn more about WFP.

The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation reports:

An Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has reaffirmed support for the ongoing initiatives to promote dialogue for sustainable peace in Somalia. However the meeting at State House Nairobi today under the chairmanship of President Mwai Kibaki, the noted that the prevailing situation posed a threat to peace and gravely undermined the ability of the Transitional Federal Institutions in Somalia to consolidate the gains made so far to achieve long-term stability. The meeting, attended by President Abdulahi Yusuf of Somalia and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia re-affirmed support for the Transitional Federal Charter and Federal Transitional Institutions as an embodiment of the common will of the Somali people. In a communiqué issued at the end of the consultation, the IGAD forum expressed support for the ongoing dialogue between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and encouraged both parties to strive to overcome any differences by actively pursuing genuine reconciliation. The forum further reiterated that any dialogue must be based on the will of the Somalia people and preserve the sanctity of the Transitional Federal Charter and Federal Institutions which provide a solid political framework to achieve a lasting solution to the Somali problems. They endorsed the revised Igad Mission to Somalia (IGASOM) deployment plan as approved by the African Union (AU) peace and security council and further called on the AU to provide the requisite funds to enable the implementation of the first phase of the plan.

IGAD is a dysfunctional organisation run by depots, dictators and the enemy of the Somali Nation (Ethiopia and Kenya). Hence, no one should be surprised by this act! They want the tragic Somali conflict to continue!

Click here to view the full article.

Wangui Kanina of the Reuters news agency writes:

East African leaders pushed ahead on Tuesday with a contested plan to send peacekeepers to Somalia, despite a separate military deal between the country’s rival powers that appeared to block foreign intervention. The regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which led talks that produced Somalia’s interim government in 2004, urged the African Union to speed approval of the proposed peacekeeping mission, release funds and help raise more money to support the deployment of troops. IGAD also called on the U.N. Security Council to meet “urgently” to consider lifting its arms embargo on Somalia, torn apart by factions fighting for control of the Horn of Africa nation since warlords ousted Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Late on Monday, Islamist and government delegates meeting in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, agreed in principle to join their military forces if they could agree on sharing political power. The pact stressed that neither side would accept military interference inside Somalia by neighboring countries and seemed to set up yet another possible conflict between the government and the Islamists.

The TFG must put screeching halt on this ill-thought and counter-productive plan. Col. Cabdullaahi Yuusuf and Cali Geedi cannot say we want to negotiate peace while at the same time they keeping fueling the conflict by pushing for African troop deployment in Somalia.

Somali peace talks need more honest peace brokers from the Arab and Islamic countries. As the saying goes “ Baadida ninbaa kula daydayi, daalna kaa badin, aan doonahayn inaad heshana daaying abidkaa”. Both Ethiopa and Kenya are working tirelessly for permanent break up of Somalia and further fragmentation of the Somali Nation.

We cannot and we must not allow Somalia’s enemies to sit on the driver’s seat as we did in the past!

Click here to view the full article onn Reuters.

The South African Mail and Guardian Reports:

At least 12 people were killed and 11 wounded on Monday when Somali police clashed with gunmen for control of the airport in the government seat of Baidoa, officials and witnesses said. The fighting erupted as members of the weak transitional administration met with Somalia’s powerful Islamic movement in Sudan but was unrelated to the peace talks, although it underscored instability in the lawless nation. Police said they had moved on the Baidoa airport to evict militia fighters who had set up shop there, imposing taxes and recruiting cronies into their ranks after having been dismissed as airport security workers. “Twelve people have been killed, seven militiamen and five from the government security,” Baidoa police official Omar Aden Abdulle said from the town, about 250km north-west of Mogadishu.

Click here to view the full report.

C. Bryson Hull of the Reuters news agency writes:

Anarchic Somalia has confounded U.S. foreign policy once again, leaving Washington struggling to find a coherent approach to a state whose internal turmoil threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa. The Bush administration appears to have realised that its “one-size-fits-all” approach to countering global terrorist threats failed in Somalia. But it is groping for an appropriate response to the new situation, diplomats and analysts say. Though overshadowed by the Middle East and Iraq, anarchic Somalia has long worried Washington because of fears its coastline — Africa’s longest — and proximity to the Arabian Peninsula could be exploited by militants posing a threat to U.S. interests and looking for a gateway into east Africa. A covert counter-terrorism initiative in which the United States threw its support behind secular warlords fighting Islamists in Mogadishu backfired spectacularly in June. The U.S. involvement actually worked to strengthen the Islamists’ hand and helped them conquer the capital, analysts say. Now with an internationally recognised interim government’s hopes of survival flagging in the face of a well-armed and organised Islamist movement, Washington’s only play so far has been to promote talks to bring the Islamists into the administration.

As I have argued here, here, and elsewhere in this blog, the Bush Administration’s foreign policy towards Somalia is at best, counter-productive and at worst destructive!

Click here to view the full article on Reuters.

Foreign interference and the presence of foreign forces on Somali soil, some of whom are already there, is a recipe for another civil war, instead of the pursuit of reconciliation and reconstruction.

Ibrahim Hussein Addow,
Leader of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union Delegation
Khartoum, Sudan.

I agree!

Speaking in Khartoum, Sharif Xasan Aadan, the man who brought the failed TFG to its knees was quoted as saying:

We are brothers, we can achieve a lot. We want to focus on ways and means to take Somalia out of its current debacle.

Certainly, we are brothers and sisters as Somalis. However, I wonder why Sharif Xasan Aadan failed to recognize that simple fact in the past! I do not think any Somali will buy that cheap, immoral and deceptive statement. Sharif Xasan Aadan cannot say we are brothers only when it suits his selfish political agendas.

The International Heard Tribune reports:

Sudan Negotiators for Somalia’s transitional government and its Islamist rivals met face to face behind closed doors Sunday for key talks in the Sudanese capital on political, security and economic issues. The talks — aimed at steering Somalia away from anarchic violence and toward peace and stability — revolve around a June agreement to discuss political, security, social and economic issues as well as reconstruction, according to a copy of the agenda obtained by The Associated Press. Somali parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden was seen leading delegates from the U.N.-backed Somali government into the talks with Islamic courts representatives led by Ibrahim Hassan Adow, the group’s foreign affairs chief.
Negotiators have said they hope to discuss Cabinet positions for the Islamists and seats in Parliament as well as the transitional charter in talks that are expected to last several days.

The paper went on by saying:

Aden and Adow made no statements Sunday before going into the meeting but reaffirmed Saturday that they are committed to peace. Adow warned, however, that foreign interference in Somalia would be “a recipe for the renewal of civil war,” alluding to reports that Ethiopian troops had taken up position in three Somali towns.

As I have argued endless times in the past, I do not really understand the point of wasting time talking with the failed TFG and its Ethiopian Viceroy; Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf Axmed! Now, what will Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf offer to the ICU or to the Somali people in return for allowing him to continuing as a head of state? The answer to the question is simply NOTHING! Yes, I am aware of the fact that the Colonel has threatened to help full Ethiopian invasion of Somalia if he is asked to leave power and go home to Addis Abba. However, I do not think that there is anyone in Somalia today who is taking that threat very seriously other than the Colonel himself!

Having said that, I think, it is wise of the ICU leaders to show that they mean peace and that they are willing to talk to anyone in order to end the tragic political conflict in our beloved country. Nonetheless, no one should be under any illusion about the outcome of the inane talks in Sudan. It is just a farce!

Click here to view the full report on the IHT.

The Irin News reported yesterday that:

After initially refusing to take part in peace negotiations, Somalia’s transitional government and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controls the capital Mogadishu, have agreed to resume talks in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, officials said. “We have decided to participate in the talks in the interest of the people,” Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the UIC chairman, said on Tuesday. The two sides announced their participation after meeting a Kenyan delegation to the country, led by Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, on Monday.

Personally, I do not understand what difference a “talk” between the collapsed TFG and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) will make? I mean, the ICU control the most strategic parts of the country including Mogadishu and they seem to be advancing politically and militarily with an amazing speed. Meanwhile, the powerless TFG is disintegrating everyday with a serious and widening political gap between Cali Geedi and Col. Cabdullahi Yusuf Axmed. More importantly, neither Cali Geedi nor Col. Cabdullahi Yusuf Axmed has done anything tangible for the Somali people since they came to power almost two years ago. The fact is that Col. Cabdullahi Yusuf Axmed was busy building tribal government of his own appointing former taxi drivers and waiters as ministers while Cali Geedi was unable to understand what his role as a prime Minister was really all about!

In this scenario, there is no political incentive for the ICU to even contemplate talking with the failed TFG. Without a doubt, they are the victorious party in this political and military chess game. Hence, they do not need the TFG at all. However, some have argued that the “Western” powers could isolate them if they succeed to take over the entire country and as a result incapacitate any future government by ICU. Therefore, the ICU should try to talk to the TFG in order to reach power sharing agreement that could potentially pave the way for a coalition government.

I do not believe that this is an argument worth any consideration at all. There are several reasons for my out right rejection of this line of argument. First, neither Cali Geedi nor Col. Cabdullaahi Yuusuf is popular with the West. Second, as I argued before, The ICU made several important political signals indicating that they were willing to address U.S. security concerns in Somalia. Indeed, the initial U.S. policy regarding the ICU did not seem hostile at all. However, the fact that Sheikh Dahir Aways is appointed to very prominent and politically powerful position complicates the matter somewhat. Third, the overwhelming majority of the Somali people are at the moment with the ICU politically and militarily if need be.

In short, the ICU is increasing looking like the legitimate power in Somalia while the TFG is seen by the fast majority of the Somali people as bunch of murderers, warlords and tribal chiefs bickering endlessly among themselves with NO one around to listen them.

Can any sane person tell me why the ICU would waste time talking with those folks? They must push on and liberate the rest of the country including the northern and eastern regions!

Click here to view the full dispatch on Irin News.

Mike Clough writes an opinion article on the Los Angeles Times and says:

(…) Somalia is on the brink of becoming the fourth front in the U.S. war on terror. As in Afghanistan, Iraq and in Lebanon, the U.S. is allied in some way against radical Islamic fundamentalists. The Islamic Courts Union, a growing alliance of Islamic militants, recently routed U.S.-backed warlords and took over Mogadishu. It seeks to oust a transitional federal government, which is supported by the African Union but controls only the town of Baidoa. On the sidelines is the U.S.-backed regime in Ethiopia that is eager to lead the battle against the Islamists, who may have ties to Al Qaeda. (…) In many ways, this latest front in the war on terror is the culmination of nearly 30 years of alternating Washington policy blunders and neglect in the Horn of Africa. That history has left the U.S. with few good options in a worsening situation. U.S. missteps in the region date to 1977, when policymakers tacitly — and foolishly — encouraged Somalia to take advantage of political instability in the Ethiopian capital and grab control of Ethiopia’s Somali-inhabited Ogaden region. The move backfired when Soviet and Cuban troops rushed in to defend the Marxist regime in Addis Ababa, turning Ethiopia into Moscow’s staunchest ally in Africa. In response, Washington armed Mohamed Siad Barre’s thugocracy in Somalia.

Mike Clough concluded by saying:

With a growing likelihood of war in the Horn of Africa, Bush has little maneuvering room. He could accept the emergence of an anti-American Islamist Somalia. He could back Ethiopian intervention on the side of the transition government in Baidoa, which would lead to a bloody war. Or he could try to persuade another African government to militarily support the transitional government. None of these are particularly appealing, even when practical. This time, Somalia doesn’t seem to be going away.

I do not believe that more U.S involvement, the kind of political and military involvement Mike Clough seems to favor would have made any difference at all. The fact is that, the “Right Wing” bullish U.S foreign policy advocated by Mike Clough and his like-minded folks is at best counter-productive and at worse destructive as the catastrophic military adventure in Iraq proves beyond any doubt. Indeed, the failed U.S. clandestine military involvement made things more complicated in Somalia by helping popular political upraising that propelled the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) to higher political ground.

I believe strategic U.S. interests can best be achieved by talking to the leaders of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. The ICU made several important political signals indicating that they want to address U.S. security concerns in Somalia. The U.S. should not blindly refuse to engage Somalia’s new rulers exclusively on unrealistic ideological grounds that is based on dogma rather reason and realpolitik!

I do not believe that ICU is hiding “terrorists” in their camps as some “Right Wing” political commentators (propagandists) would like us to believe!

Click here to view the full article on the LA Times.

Eben Kaplan, Assistant Editor, Council on Foreign Relations writes:

Courts imposing sharia (traditional Islamic law) have been active in Somalia since the mid-to-late 1990s. In a nation that has been largely anarchic for the last decade and a half, these courts became increasingly popular because they demonstrated their ability to provide some semblance of order. By early 2005, eleven of these tribunals had joined the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a network aimed at expanding their influence within the country. Somali business leaders, many of whom fund their own private militias, began providing financial and military backing to the ICU in hopes that the Islamists could bring wider stability. With this support, the ICU’s area of control spread from the central region of Somalia south toward Mogadishu, the capital. On June 5, 2006, the ICU claimed control of Mogadishu from a coalition of warlords calling themselves the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT). Though sporadic fighting continued for several weeks, by July 15, the ICU had secured control of the entire capital.

Interesting perspective but the authors lacks deeper knowledge on Somali politics and culture. More importantly, as a Jewish, the author shows hostile attitude towards Islam.

Click here to view the full article on the Council of Foreign Relations website.

The Reuters News Agency reports:

Somalia’s interim cabinet has been dissolved and a new one will be appointed within a week, President Abdullahi Yusuf said on Monday. “The bloated cabinet of (Prime Minister) Ali Mohamed Gedi’s government did not do anything during its tenure,”Yusuf told parliament. “From today onwards, the government has been dissolved, only the prime minister will remain”

Well, this should not surprise anyone at all. The TFG collapsed long time ago and Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf has been trying hard to resuscitate a lifeless government that nobody really cares about. He has also been trying hard to distance himself from Cali Geedi and the rest of failed cabinet in a futile attempt to save himself from eminent political onslaught from the Somali Islamic Courts’ Union. I do not believe that Col. Cabdullahi Yuusuf will be able to fool anyone other than himself!

Cabdullaahi Yuusuf had amble opportunities to find lasting political solutions to Somalia’s tragic civil war. The fact is that he failed and he failed miserably on everyone’s eyes! Hence, he is part of Somalia’s biggest problems not part of the solution as he mistakenly believes to be. Therefore, Somalia will be better of if he goes to where he really belongs; Addis Abba! His biggest political aspiration seems to have been to be an Ethiopian Viceroy in Somalia and he did indeed succeed doing that to some extend even though it may not have been long enough for him.

As I have written many times on this page, there is no viable alternative to the rule of the Islamic Courts Union! They must be given a chance to show what they are capable of doing! They succeeded to clean Mogadishu from the tyrany of warlordism. I am sure they will be able to clean the rest of the country including the northern and easter regions!

Click here to view the full dispatch on Reuters.

Dr. Jendayi Frazer; U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs was quoted as saying:

Very clearly the transitional federal institutions are considered the legitimate entities for government and they need to have some type of defense.

Dr. Fraser went on by saying:

We as a matter of urgency need to consider the request for some type of force to come in and train up those transitional federal institutions. That’s the best way to keep out these more immediate neighbours.

I agree with Dr. Frazer that federal institutions have some limited political legitimacy. I also agree with her that in order to keep the Ethiopians out, Somalia must build strong defense force. However, I do believe that the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) should be given the benefit of the doubt and should be allowed to proceed with their relentless campaign to eliminate the tyranny of warlordism once and for all from our beloved country! They have succeeded to weed out the tyrannical warlords from the Mogadishu. As a result, life in Mogadishu is clearly getting back to normal with both the Airport and Seaport open for business. It is worth noting that neither the TFG nor the United States could ever manage to achieve what the ICU achieved with such amazing speed and less bloodshed!

It is true that the ICU did not spell out their true political agenda thus far. Understandably, this makes lots of people included my self nerves. However, I do believe that Sheekh Shariif Axmed is an honest man who has the best interest of the Somali people in his heart. Unlike the more belligerent and hard-line Sheekh Daahir Caways, Sheekh Shariif Axmed looks like a true Muslim; humble, kind, gentle and soft spoken with no ill-will to anyone.

My hope is that Sheekh Daahir Caways will step down from power for the good of the country! I also hope that the ICU will be able to put screeching halt to the secessionist madness in northern Somalia soon by uniting the country peacefully.

Click here to view the full dispatch by the AlertNet.

Speaking to reporters in London, Lord David Triesman; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of the British Foreign Office was quoted as saying:

I think it would be profoundly damaging to the interests of the people of Somalia … were he to be a leading member of government….. It would be unacceptable … for people to seize by force the government of Somalia.

Lord David Triesman went on by saying:

It would be deeply disturbing … if a force led by people who we have good reason to believe were involved with the bombing of embassies in East Africa were the leaders of that government.

I do not think that Lord David Triesman is in a moral position to preach Somalis about their political problems. The question many Somalis are asking is: were was Lord Triesman for past last fifteen years when the Somali people were butchered everyday by the warlords? He is talking like someone who just woke up from a long hibernation! If the truth is to be told, the British government and Lord Triesman were looking the Somali conflict with a blind eye. Indeed, I have sent countless number of emails to Lord Triesman and his office asking him what the British government wanted to do about the tragic Somali civil war. For the record, I never got more than a short reply saying “we are looking into the issue”!

Lord Triesman has never been a friend of the Somali people and I believe he will never be for obvious reasons! Therefore, he should leave Somalia to its people and to those others who care about their plight!

Click here to view the full dispatch on the AlertNet. You may also like to click here for more Lord Triesman and Somalia.

In an opinion piece published on today’s Kenya “Daily Nation” newspaper, Ambrose Murunga urges the Kenya government to use force in order to stop the Somali Islamic Courts to complete their quest to free the Somali people from the tyranny of warlordism.

Ambrose Murunga writes:

Kenyan intelligence agencies should be advising the political leadership against allowing the collapse of Somalia’s transitional government. The BBC reports that 20 Cabinet ministers handed tendered in their resignations yesterday.

She concluded by saying:

The Islamic Courts Union is poised to take over, and a radical, theocratic government in our neighborhood is a definite ‘No Way’. It is in the interests of our national security to prevent any such development, by force, if need be.

I think this is at best a sick joke! And at worst it is a dangerous idea from a mind hallucinating with ignorance about the geo-politics and ethnic tensions in that part of the world. Ambrose Murunga and other Kenyans must know that one third of what is now called “Kenya” is a Somali territory under illegal Bantu (Kenyan) occupation. Hence, it is a very dangerous political gamesmanship to advocate ideas that could destabilize in an already volatile region. I understand that Kenyans are very afraid that Somali people under Kenyan occupation will rebel. However preaching hatred is not will fuel more hostilities towards the Kenyans.

Somalis under Kenyan occupation must be allowed to decide their political destiny!

Following is the full piece! (more…)

Kuwaiti Times reports:

A mystery cargo plane that landed in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu yesterday has triggered accusations from the interim government that it was carrying weapons from Eritrea to support rival Islamists. In only the second arrival of a plane to Mogadishu’s old international airport since Islamists re-opened it days ago, residents reported seeing a medium-sized aircraft with no recognizable identity land and unload large boxes. “Eritrea has brought to Mogadishu by airplane weapons to support the Islamists,” Somalia’s deputy information minister Salad Ali Jelle told reporters from Baidoa, the provincial base of the fragile transitional government. Islamists blocked the area near the airport to stop residents from finding out about the plane, believed to be carrying guns and explosives, the official said, citing residents’ accounts as his evidence.

The last thing Somalia needs is more arms. We have enough of them!

Click here to view the full report.

David Gollust of VOA writes:

The Bush administration is again urging the main parties in the Somalia conflict to commit to dialogue for a unity government, and it is calling on Somalia’s neighbors to avoid any actions that might complicate those efforts. The U.S. appeal followed reports Wednesday that a Kazakh cargo plane carrying arms from Eritrea for Islamic militants had arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu, and news accounts last week that Ethiopia had sent troops to shore up the country’s transitional government based in Baidoa. Both Eritrea and Ethiopia have denied intervening in the long-running Somali conflict and officials here say they cannot verify the news reports. However, the State Department is taking the accounts seriously. At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said it is important that Somalia’s neighbors avoid any actions that would make the political reconciliation process in Somalia more difficult than it already is.

To me the Bush Administrations foreign policy regarding the Somali conflict is at best incoherent and it lacks strategic focus.

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