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ARS - the Liberal Somalis of
the Political Center
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
April 25, 2008
A great dose of misinformation characterized the
world´s mass media as regards Somalia – and quite
unfortunately for too long. The incessantly
over-publicized reports of hostilities did not give
the chance to readers allover the world to get an
idea about the political opinions and the approaches
to a liberal and democratic reconstruction of
Somalia that are shared among many Somalis in
Somalia and the Diaspora.
The overwhelming flow of information concerning
Somalia is effectively misleading due to erroneous
selection of news filtered through the world´s mass
media. Assessing the situation in Somalia on the
basis of this unrepresentative and utterly biased
data, one may be driven to the absolutely erroneous
conclusion that the Horn of Africa country is
politically decomposed and impossible to reunite
because of the existence of petty warlords who
prefer to perpetuate the present situation of
bloodshed, criminality, division, foreign invasion,
and partly occupation. This comprehensive effort of
misinformation must take an immediate end.
Change Somalia – Save Africa!
There are many great Somali intellectuals,
politicians, activists, statesmen and cadres,
businessmen and academia able to implement a
National Reconciliation and Reconstruction 7-Year
Project that will change the face of today´s
Somalia, and turn the embattled but noble nation
into paragon of African development, and cornerstone
of regional stability.
My duty is not only to reveal great moments and
snapshots from the Somali past, refute the
aberration of the political divisionism, reject the
pro-Abyssinian apologists´ shameful plead for
servility, and highlight Human Rights violations
perpetrated by the barbaric and criminal thugs of
the Neo-Nazi Abyssinian tyrant Meles Zenawi.
I feel also obliged to break the wall of silence,
which has been so scrupulously erected by the
vicious enemies of the Somali Peace, Unity, and
Progress, and to present to you analyses and
approaches, assessments and conclusions, suggestions
and plans published by genuinely liberal and
democratic Somalis who represent the vanguard of the
Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, and Reconciliation
that so passionately the totality of the Somalis –
from Mogadishu, Kismayu, Garowe, Ras Hafun, Dhahar,
Berbera, and Hargeysa, from Ogaden and Kenya, from
Djibouti and the Diaspora – desire, invoke, and
envision.
America and Europe seem to worry about the rise of
the Chinese trade and political influence in Africa.
Washington seems to have particular problems with
Asmara. Western capitals and NGOs from allover the
world find the overall situation in Eastern Africa
as perilous and explosive, able to trigger
humanitarian disasters of colossal dimensions.
Instability in Kenya is intertwined with the
oppression of the Oromos and the Sidamas in the
colonial relic state of Abyssinia, the butchery of
the Anuak, the troubles of the Bejas, and the Drama
of Darfur.
A spectrum of anxiety seems to cover Eastern Africa
in its entirety; the Western diplomats and
statesmen, military experts and Human Rights
activists seem unable to find the possible exit from
the abysmal labyrinth. They fail to search where
they should, and the result is that they are left
empty-handed.
The solution to all problems of Eastern Africa
starts from Somalia. And the resolution of all the
troubles of Somalia begins with the Somali Political
Center, the liberal and democratic Somalis who are
committed to offer their Noble Fatherland a leading
position among the African nations. These are the
leaders of the ARS, the Alliance for the
Re-liberation of Somalia.
These are the Somali Konrad Adenauers, Alcide de
Gasperis, and Charles de Gaulle of the 21st century.
Nothing will be done without them; and no
understanding of Somalia´s present troubles will be
achieved without a proper and attentive study of
their texts.
That´s why I re-publish here a text written by a
young and much promising leader of the ARS, Mr.
Sultan Mohamed Sultan Garyare, Head of the Social
Affairs´ office of the Alliance for Re-Liberation of
Somalia. I have selected this text because it
consists in an overview of the entire issue; if you
go through its lines, you will encounter the
tolerant, reasonable and modest mind of the new
Somali leaders – those whom both, the Somali Nation
and the World Community, badly need.
Somalia – A Black colony of Abyssinia
By Sultan Mohamed Sultan Garyare
Somalia is located on the Horn of Africa, with an
estimated population of between 9 and 10.5 millions.
After 17 years and many attempts to restore
governance since the overthrow of Siad Barre´s
regime in 1991, Somalia has had puppet government
backed by Ethiopian troops for over three years but
it is a weak government that cannot control the
country, because it is incompetent and illegitimate.
Over the past 17 years, Somalia has become divided
into clan-based regional entities, leading to
political segregation and the localisation of power
and authority. Violent conflict between factions has
been widespread in many regions. Islamic "Sharia"
law has been introduced in certain areas to promote
law and order alongside traditional systems of
jurisdiction. The economic and social situations in
Somalia have been negatively affected by the
political crisis and the high incidence of violent
conflict. The 2004 World Bank Report confirmed that
Somalia is one of the poorest countries in the
world, with a per capita income of US$226 and with
43.2% of the population living on less than US$1 a
day.
Unfortunately, this is the case for Somalia, where
anarchy, violence and chaos have taken place for 17
years. Somalia is one of the nation state building
exercises which appears to have established as a
permanent characteristic on the international
scenery. In order to understand the main circle of
violence in which Somalia is today, it is necessary
to briefly examine some key incidents in modern
Somali history:As a result of the division of
Somalia between Britain, France, Italy and Ethiopia
during the late 19th century, there are substantial
Somali populations living in Djibouti, Kenya and
Ethiopia which has caused domestic and regional
problems.
Colonial powers came to appreciate the strategic
location of Somalia after the Berlin Conference,
which initiated the "Scramble for Africa".The
arrival of Britain, France and Italy into Somali
lands began in the late 19th century and quickly the
area disintegrated into British Somaliland and
Italian Somaliland. Both countries sought expand
their control, enlisting locals to fight the every
wars aimed at their own subjugation.
When the newly independent states of British
Somaliland and Italian Somaliland united to form the
Republic of Somalia in 1960, the union impacted
heavily on the political status of clans and
lineages (Cornwell, 2004). With dependence on Soviet
support in the late 1960s, Somalia´s declared
Socialist block.
When the US withdrew aid to Ethiopia, the USSR, with
Cuban support, quickly shifted from Somalia and went
back to Ethiopia, in the result of hostility and
aggression that increased into the new Cold War in
the areas (Cornwell, R. 2004). In that context, led
to Somalia political disaster because both Western
and Eastern blocks have been playing role in order
to achieve their geo-political interest without
giving Somalia to real political, military and
financial aid. With that result, Somalia become
politically disintegrated and collapsed at the late
1990s. Since 1991, Somalia, where the warlords are
the worst of the group, they are the primary
responsibility for the problem of the Somali people.
Looting, banditry, greedy warlords and well armed
groups have dominated media images of conflict in
Somalia. As Ikwunze (2000) described, ´The gang
alleged led by an influential chiefs in the
community, brazenly and openly carry out its
nefarious activities behaviour resembling economic
predation in collapsed state like Somalia´. These
warlords will never reconcile or put arms down
unless forced to.
The United Nations intervened to restore hope in
Somalia in 1993. That operation failed because the
warlords fought the UN troops and UN peace keeping
troops withdrew from Somalia a year later. First,
the clan system was used cleverly by the dictatorial
regime in pitting clan against clan that has
resulted in hate and distrust which is widespread in
the clans. Secondly, the lack of financial and
technical assistance resulted in the failure of the
state. Thirdly, a central form of government
encouraged corruption and conspiracy (Global policy
org. 2006).
Social formations were characteristic in Somali
society. Political mean and cultural values linked
up with economic composition by the way of the
ideology of kinship thus creating an interlinked net
of social economic and political institutions. As a
result, an individual Somalis location in any of
these structures the society automatically included
its kinship therefore the Somali society did not
accept the way of nation state but they did accept a
character of kinship (Lyons & Samatar 1995).
The hostility of the Ethiopians to the Somalis is
based on: religion, greed, annexation of regions;
desire to control Somali tribes, ambition to occupy
the coastal areas of Somalia. and plans to crush the
dream of Greater Somalia.
There is no difference among Ethiopian rulers from
Menelik to Zenawi when it comes to tackling with the
Somalis. Ethiopian rulers believe that brutality and
humiliation is key weapon to vanquish the Somalis.
Divide and rule is the second weapon in their choice
particularly in the current era of warlords in
Somalia. Somali people had always engaged in stiff
liberation struggle pioneered by the national heroes
such as Imam Ahmed Gurey, Mohamed Abdullah Hassan,
the SYL, SNL leaders and other liberation movements
in defence of their country and religion.
The tyrannical Tigray Regime in Addis-Ababa has
always sabotaged and disrupted all these previous
conferences. It was regrettable that the Tigray
regime has had a plenty opportunity to manipulate
the selection and creation of puppet administrations
inside Somalia with hidden agenda to serve Tigray´s
interest. Eventually, the Tigray regime has realised
its dream of conquering and occupying Somalia in the
pretext of defending the interim authority formed in
Mbagati Conference (Kenya).
The enemy (Tigray) has invaded the country when it
realised that Somali people are quite capable of
pacifying Somalia. For instance, during the brief
control of the Union of the Islamic Courts of
Somalia, leaders managed to restore law and order in
most parts of Somalia in a short period of time. For
six months, the Somali people had enjoyed living in
harmony, peace, calmness and renovation.
The U.S. worked hand in hand with the Ethiopian
invaders at every level of the Ethiopian military,
while U.S. jets persistently caused terror from the
air. Once the Ethiopians had placed themselves and
their puppet Somali "government" in the capital,
Mogadishu, the Americans sent their other African
proxies, the Ugandan and Burundi military, to make
up most of the weak African "peacekeeping" force in
Somalia.
The Somali resistance to the Ethiopian invasion
consider the African peacekeepers in Mogadishu to be
agents of the U.S. and, concerning the Ugandans and
Burundians they are right to attack. If there were
ever a formula for bloody and protracted war in
Somalia, it is Ethiopian occupation, which is
already unifying diverse elements of the Somali
population in fighting (Thanks of Allah).
There is also great cause for concern about the
situation in southern and central Somalia, and in
particular Mogadishu. The situation for civilians in
Mogadishu has grown intolerable.In December 2006,
Ethiopian forces with US support ousted the
coalition of Islamic Courts from Mogadishu and other
areas of south-central Somalia in a lightning
offensive.
Ethiopia's intervention in Somalia is closely linked
to regional security domination, including a proxy
war with Eritrea and the support given to the ONLF
and other Ethiopian rebel movements by groups in
Somalia. The armed conflict in Mogadishu has
steadily escalated since the Ethiopian-backed puppet
Government (TFG) established itself in Mogadishu in
January 2007.
Since January 2007, the resistence(maqaawamo) has
waged almost daily attacks on Ethiopian and puppet
government forces, including several suicide
attacks. In response, Ethiopian forces launched two
major offensives on large areas of Mogadishu in
March and April in 2007.
Ethiopian troops indiscriminately bombarded
resistence(maqaawamo) strongholds with barrages of "Katyusha"
rockets, mortars and artillery, making no apparent
effort to distinguish between civilians targets.
While the precise number of civilian casualties is
not yet known, estimates range more than 6,000
deaths resulting since fighting began According to
United Nations officials, the humanitarian crisis in
Somalia is more than a million Somalis fled their
homes.
The war will also weaken Ethiopia, which is more
than a third Muslim and home to many peoples that
oppose the dictatorial regime in Addis Ababa. If the
leaders of the United States were searching for a
plan that would kill hundreds of thousands of
Africans, they have found it. According to Human
Rights Watch "Tigray troops are destroying villages
and property, confiscating livestock and forcing
civilians to relocate to urban centers, in an
apparent attempt to separate the civilian population
from the ONLF rebels operating in remote rural
areas. Villagers are threatened if they refuse to
relocate"
The Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS)
was formed last year (2007) in the Eritrean capital
Asmara, declaring to force Ethiopia out of Somalia.
As ARS considered, the Tigray troops which occupied
the country illegally should be forced to withdraw
the country as soon as possible. It is the right of
the Somali people to have the independence to decide
its own destiny without outside intervention.
The International community must support the Somali
people in their looking for a genuine political
reconciliation which cannot take place until the
Tigray forces leave the country which will crate a
safe, suitable and neutral environment. The alliance
believes that the Somali solution to be in
negotiation and political discussion. The solution
of the Somali people is in the application of the
Islamic Sharia and it is good custom.
The International community must bear in its
responsibility in implementing resolutions passed by
the Security Council particularly resolutions
regarding Somali affairs and to advocate Charter of
the United Nations in relation to the independence,
unity and sovereignty of Somalia. The alliance
strongly believes that the Somali people have the
right to liberate their country from the Tigrayn
occupation as set in the United Nations Charter.
In conclusion, the United States-backed Ethiopia
renewed occupation in Somalia is not unavoidable,
and can only be explained on the basis of external
interest engaged in zero sum politics. it was
created by series of policy choices, carefully
skilled and controlled by Meles Zenawi, with
financial and diplomatic cover of the United States,
and United Nations Security Council and to a less
significant level European Union; and carried out
and legitimized by the puppet government to achieve
multiple objectives of those who invested in it: For
Zenawi it is the survival of his regime and access
to the see Somali ports(use as necessary for him);
for the United States it is the war on terrorism.
Thus, Somali people have no chance in this military
occupation, which tries to fit former warlords
through Ethiopian military, which means Ethiopian
military will stay as long as warlords are in power,
because the warlords are politically broke, and will
not be able to endure without Zenawi´s protection
for them and the Ethiopian occupation of Somali
soil.
By: Sultan Mohamed Sultan Garyare
Head of the Social Affairs´ office of the Alliance
for Re-Liberation of Somalia
Note
Picture: the earliest known King of Somalia (Punt),
Perehu, greets the Egyptian delegation sent by
Pharaoh Hatshepsut ca. 1480 BCE to ask for spices,
plants, frankincense, myrrh trees, and 'earth of
Punt' that were all transported to Thebes of Egypt.
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