REVUE
DE PRESSE
ET NOUVELLES BRÈVES
SOMALIE
: MEDIATION YEMENITE
LA LETTRE DE L'OCEAN INDIEN n°916 du 09/09/2000
Le président du Yémen, Ali Abdallah Saleh, a invité
les chefs de guerre somaliens opposés au nouveau président
de Somalie, Abdi Qassem Salad Hassan, élu par la conférence
de réconciliation d'Arta (Djibouti), à rencontrer
ce dernier à Sanaa où il doit se rendre à
son retour des Etats-Unis (...)
ARDHD
: cette information confirme que les choses ne sont pas réglées
en Somalie et que les décisions prises à Arta
ne sont pas acceptées par tous, loin s'en faut. Attendons
de voir la réponse qui sera donnée au Yemen dans
cette proposition de médiation.
Par
ailleurs nous apprenons aussi dans La lettre de l'Océan
Indien que le SSC (Organisation somalienne aux USA) aurait accusé
le nouveau président de Somalie et son probable Premier ministre,
Ali Khalif Galyr, d’avoir des liens d’affaires avec Abdurahman
Boreh, l’homme d’affaires djiboutien proche du président Ismaël
Omar Guelleh.
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New Somali
president in New York
Somalia, Politics, 9/7/2000
New
Somalia President Abdul Qasem Salat Hassan arrives in New York
to attend the Millennium summit which is organized by the UN
and he therefore ends a " diplomatic isolation" for
his country lasted more than 10 years.
Upon
his arrival in New York, the new Somali President expressed
his happiness to have his country back to the international
arena after a ten-year absence.
He
said that the message he conveys is that "a message of
peace for Somalia and a peace for the African horn and for Africa
as a whole."
The
Somali President apologized for the bloody confrontation took
place between the UN peace keeping forces and the Somalis during
the 1990 s.
He
added the mistakes were made by both the two sides " but
I want to apologize to the UN and the world for the mistakes
the Somalis had made."
The
UN Security Council and the Organization of African Unity and
the Arab League welcomed Salat's election as President for Somalia
and they urged all the Somalis to back the current peace process.
The
Somali flag was permitted to be hoisted at the UN for the first
time since ten years while the Somali President was preparing
to deliver his speech before the massive summit which lasted
for two days and has already started on Wednesday.
The
new Somali President who was elected last week by Somalia's
parliament met in the neighboring state of Djibouti, had extended
an appeal at the UN and the international community to forget
the past and to offer finances to re-building Somalia.
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Un émissaire
Somalien à Tripoli
Panafrican
News Agency
September 7, 2000
Tripoli
Un
émissaire somalien, M. Ali Ahmed Ismail, est arrivé
jeudi, à Tripoli, pour informer les autorités
libyennes de la situation dans son pays à la suite de
l'élection d'un nouveau chef d'Etat, M. Adbulgacem Salat
Hassan.
La
Libye, rappelle-t-on à Tripoli, a déployé
des efforts intenses pour le règlement du conflit somalien
qui fait suite au renversement, il y a 10 ans, du feu président
Mohamed Siad Bare.
Tous
les chefs des factions ont séjourné à plusieurs
reprises à Tripoli dans le cadre de la médiation
du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi pour le redressement de l'Etat somalien
déchiré et contrôlé par des chefs
de guerre.
Selon
un diplomate arabe en poste à Tripoli, les Somaliens
comptent sur la Jamahiriya libyenne pour contenir les ardeurs
des chefs des factions dont certains ne reconnaisent aucune
légitimité aux groupes qui s'étaient retrouvés
à Djibouti pour désigner, le mois dernier, M.
Salat comme chef d'Etat de la Somalie réunifiée.
M.
Ismail est membre du collège des conseillers du nouveau
président de Somalie, indique-t-on à Tripoli.
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09/09
PRESS RELEASE SF/EC-020-2000
Saturday, September 9, 2000
PEACEFUL
SOLUTIONS ARE NEEDED IN SOMALIA NOT A FOREIGN-NOMINATED 'PRESIDENT.'
The
UN, adding to its catalogue of errors in Somalia, has just
rubber-stamped Mr. Salad Hassan's claim to being the president
of two
countries---Somalia proper, and the independent Republic of
Somaliland.
"The UN and some of the neighbouring states to Somalia
and Somaliland
have re-written International Law, and have extended recognition
to one
man,with no government and no effective control over the lands
which he
claims to preside over", said Amina Malko , Chair of the
Somaliland
Forum.
The
hasty action, railroaded through the auspices of the President
of
Djibouti, Mr. Guelleh, totally overlooked the reality of the
situation
in the independent Republic Somaliland and Somalia and shows
a callous
disregard for the rights and interests of the people of Somaliland
and
Somalia.
Mr
Salad, during his address to the UN, obviously overlooked some
details of his own background such as the time when he held
high
ministerial positions throughout the dictatorial regime of Siad
Barre.
Unlike many others who served in that regime, he remained totally
loyal
to the dictator until the dying days of his regime. It is, indeed,
ironic to witness the UN applaud Mr. Hassan, one of the late
dictator's
closest allies men. The UN has shamefully rewarded the Barre
loyalist
with an audience and a warm welcome, rather than holding him
accountable
for his key role in the destruction of the former Somali Republic
in the
1970s and 1980s.
Mr.
Hassan wants the world to forget that he has held pivotal posts
such
as the Minister of Interior and Deputy Premier at a time wThe
UN has
shamefully rewarded Barre's henchman with an audience and a
warm
welcome, rather than holding him accountable for his key role
in the
destruction of Somalia in the 1970s and 1980s, when one of the
worst
human rights atrocities occurred in the former Somali Republic.
Many of
Mr. Hassan's so-called 'parliament' members chosen in Djibouti
along
with him were also involved directly or indirectly in crimes
against
Humanity. "The UN should create a war crimes tribunal for
the former
Somalia, so they can question Mr. Hassan and his friends for
their
part in the massacres and pogroms that finally brought down
the fascist
Barre government, instead of welcoming him in the hallways of
the UN",
said Amina Malko, chair of the Somaliland Forum.
Documents
on what went on in the former Somalia when Mr. Salad Hassan
was a high profile minister in the fascist Barre government
abound. For
example,the US General Accounting Office in a 1989 Report, relating
to
the northern regions (now Republic of Somaliland), concluded
that
looting, jailing,rape and mass murder by the Somali Army from
1982 was
widespread and that the military bombarded populated areas in
Hargeisa
and Burao. Africa Watch (1990) estimated the number of people
killed
during that period at more than 50,000. Since then, there has
been
considerable evidence of mass graves around the major towns
in
Somaliland.
The
Somaliland Forum, does not in anyway oppose any peace initiatives
for the people in Somalia proper; on the contrary, we welcome
any effort
that would create a lasting peace in Somalia. However, we strongly
believe that the international community needs to be aware that
peaceful
solutions are needed in Somalia, not a foreign-nominated 'President'.
The world also must be aware that Somaliland is separate from
Somalia.
The
UN needs to realign its policies with the hard facts on the
ground
relating to the former Somali Republic whose era ended in 1991
when
Somaliland left the union. Today, the former Somali Republic
of 1960,
born from the union of Somaliland and Somalia, does not exist
anymore.
In its place we have two de facto countries: Somaliland and
Somalia.
Somaliland is peaceful and progressing each day; it has a parliament,
a
constitution, an independent court, two universities and a free
press.
Somaliland, which was completely razed to the ground by the
very
government of Somalia in which Mr. Hassan was a top minister,
has
rebuilt itself without outside help and is still peacefully
engaged in
reconstruction; on the other hand, Somalia is in chaos and still
embroiled in war. It is Somalia that needs reconciliation, peace,
and a
government, not Somaliland.
It
is indeed incredible that all the UN can do for the people of
Somalia
and Somaliland at this moment is to receive in its halls a man
who
claims to a 'president' of all the people in the former Somali
Republic.
It is high time that the UN policies relating to the former
Somali
Republic which were written down for the UN by the former head
of the
UN, the Egyptian Boutros-Boutros Ghali, should change. The current
head
of the UN, Kofi Annan, also from Africa, knows quite well the
history
and the situation of both Somaliland and Somalia proper. He
knows that
Somaliland has reasserted its statehood within the frontiers
of the
State of Somaliland of 1960, as inherited from the colonial
borders of
British Somaliland. Mr. Kofi Annan, additionally, knows that
the
existence of Somaliland does not contravene the intangibility
of
colonial frontiers in Africa, enshrined in the OAU Charter,
as Somalia
and Somaliland were born out of different colonial entities.
Somalia
received its independence from Italy on July 1, 1960 while Somaliland
received hers from Great Britain on June 26, 1960.
The
UN should stop its misguided actions in the former Somali Republic.
Why would the UN, financed by the world's taxpayers, want to
dismantle,
and destroy the achievements and progress virtually achieved
without a
cost to the world? Why would the UN encourage the Djibouti-appointed
Hassan to lay a claim to being the president of both Somaliland
and
Somalia? It is about time that the UN registers the fact that
Somaliland
is not Somalia and Somali Republic no longer exists. It is about
time
that the peaceful achievements of the people of Somaliland are
recognised and respected.
The
people of Somaliland have sacrificed their lives to reclaim
their
sovereignty in a liberation war that lasted from 1980 to 1991.
After the
collapse of the Barre regime, in which Mr. Salad Hassan was
high-ranking
official, they chose to put an end to a union which was fraught
with
irregularities from the start and whose only benefits were a
complete
destruction of their country and countless massacres under the
southern-dominated government. Any attempts to sabotage their
independence or destroy their achievements would create a conflagration
in the Horn of Africa. We urge the UN and sensible world leaders
not to
contribute to further tension and instability in the Horn of
Africa by
supporting the claims of the Djibouti-appointed president who
has no
mandate nor a foothold in his own native Somalia let alone in
the
independent and peaceful Somaliland.
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SOMALILAND FORUM
SF/EC-020-A-2000 Saturday, Sept. 9, 2000
FACT
SHEET:
REASONS
WHY THE WORLD SHOULD QUESTION THE DJIBOUTI MANUFACTURED GOVERNMENT
1.
Mr Salad was not elected by the civil society but was appointed
by
Mr. Guelleh of Djibouti.
The
President of Djibouti recruited a collection of personalities
mostly
from the same group of people who destroyed Somalia, including
war
criminals such as Gen. Ganni, who is now a close advisor to
Mr. Salad
Hassan; even after having handpicked who might be present at
his
conference, Mr Guelleh of Djibouti gave himself the discretion
of
apportioning out some of the seats of the so-called
parliament-in-exile,'thus making himself the only president
in the world
who was actually nominating the members of what was being called
the
'parliament' of another country.
The
fact is there was no election nor was there a popularly mandated
assembly and Mr. Salad Hassan was appointed by Mr. Guelleh of
Djibouti,
who had earlier fashioned out what he calls a 'parliament for
Somalia.'
2.
It is absurd that someone appointed in exile can claim to represent
the people of the former Somali Republic.
The
logical conclusion to the strategy used in Djibouti is that
any
group of exiles of Somali origin can have a gathering somewhere---it
does not matter where, and then claim to have elected the 'president.'
In the annals of world history, there is no parallel. The people
of
Somalia have not even been reconciled and there is still a fighting
in
Somalia right at this moment, yet a man comes out of a gathering
in a
foreign country and the UN says that he is the president of
Somalia and
Somaliland.
3.
The so-called conference in Djibouti was not a peace conference
at all .
Who
was reconciled with whom? The factions in Somalia have not been
reconciled; there is still enmity and fighting in Kismayo, in
Mogadishu,
in the Juba region, in Belet-wein, etc. The bullets and the
mortars are
still flying.
Where
is the comprehensive plan for bringing peace and governance
to
Somalia? There was no plan developed for peace-making and the
whole the
aim of the so-called 'Djibouti Conference' was to appoint a
president in
Djibouti and then parade that person as the president of Somalia
and
Somaliland.
4.
Nothing has been done about war crimes and instead being brought
to justice war criminals were rewarded with seats in the Djibouti-appointed
parliament.
Mr.
Salad Hassan and his friend, Mr. Guelleh of Djibouti, would
like the
world to conveniently forget that war crimes were committed
in the
former Somali Republic. There were indeed war criminals in the
gathering
in Djibouti including Gen. Ganni, one of the notorious war criminals
under the Barre regime. The so-called Djibouti-appointed parliament
also
includes Gen. Morgan, known as the Butcher of Hargeisa.
5. Somaliland opted out of the disastrous union
with Somalia in 1991 and all Mr. Hassan can say about the existence
of Somaliland and the
millions of its people is that they " don't exist.'
Indeed,
as soon as he had the chance, Mr. Hassan went on record saying
that Somaliland does not exist. One wonders why the urgency
when so many
problems exist already in Somalia and in his native region and
home---Mogadishu; why would Mr. Hassan hurry to deny the existence
of
Somaliland when he does not even have a foothold in his own
native
Somalia?
Republic of Somaliland obtained its independence from Great
Britain in
June 1960 then got into a union with Somalia, formerly Italian
Somalia.
However,the people of Somaliland, after lengthy deliberations
in general
assemblies and after reviewing how much they had suffered under
the
union decided to take their destiny in their hands and reclaimed
their
sovereignty in 1991.
Somaliland
has since been quietly rebuilding its destroyed
infrastructures and economy without outside help while the world
has
spent billions trying to reconcile the factions in Somalia proper.
The
question is what interest does Mr. Hassan have in trying to
undermine
Somaliland and hurrying to deny it's existence when even his
legitimacy
is not recognised anywhere in Somalia?
Mr.
Hassan's words of denial about the reality of the existence
of
Somaliland will not make Somaliland disappear from the face
of the
earth.
We stand to recall that the people of Somaliland liberated themselves
from a government in which Mr. Salad Hassan was a high-ranking
member
and then decided to rescinde the union with Somalia. Since,
the
achievements of the people of Somaliland have been noticed by
the world
community and have contributed to improve the economies and
the lives of
the people of the Horn of Africa. Thousands of workers from
Somalia,
Ethiopia, and even Djibouti, and as far as Tanzania have flocked
to
profit from the atmosphere of peace, reconstruction and progress
undertaken by the people of Somaliland over the last decade.
Indeed,
in just 10 years, the people of Somaliland have rebuilt their
economy and lives from scratch after the government in which
Mr. Hassan
was a minister had razed their country to the ground and had
killed and
massacred thousands of people. Today, there are two universities
and
many colleges in Somaliland, built entirely without outside
help; in
short, the economy of Somaliland is thriving and the whole region
of the
Horn is reaping benefits from the rebirth of Somaliland. In
the
endeavours of democratic institutionalisation, Somaliland has
a
parliament of two houses,a constitution, and an independent
judiciary
and indeed a free press.
All
that the industrious and peaceful people of Somaliland ask of
the
world and the neighbouring countries is a peaceful co-operation.
And
what Mr.Hassan has to offer towards improving relations between
the
Somalia he hails from and Somaliland? Absolutely nothing except
another
round of violence, if he gets the chance, for Somaliland does
not exist
for him, and he hates the idea of its existence and survival.
Apparently,
Mr. Hassan has not learned any lessons from his time as
loyal minister in the fascist Barre regime; he does not remember
that
the people of Somaliland fought for their freedom for a decade
from 1980
to 1991; he does not remember that they had survived the onslaught,
massacres and pogroms of his government of the day, the fascist
Barre
regime. Apparently, he has no recollections of the causes of
the
conflict that brought down the government he was serving loyally
in
1991. Is he taking the whole world for a sucker or has the world
lost
its sanity?
6.
There is no reason why the world should welcome a person who
has appointed by a foreign country in a land without a state
for 10 years.
As
is known, sovereignty is vested in the people and it is the
collective will of the people that represents sovereignty. When
the
people of Somalia proper get reconciled with each, they, as
a sovereign
people and not as a subject people, will elect their own government
and
president.
At
this point, for the UN to accept Mr. Hassan's claim as a president
for Somalia is to give the prerogative of the sovereignty of
the people of
Somalia to the foreign country and the foreign president that
appointed
Mr. Hassan. It is indeed evident, except to the prejudiced eye,
that
Mr.Guelleh of Djibouti has appropriated for himself the rights
of the
people of Somalia and Somaliland since he has manufactured a
trojan
president and a trojan parliament for them in a grand design
aimed at
advancing his geopolitical needs in the region. We urge the
sensible
world not have any dealings with a man who claims to be the
president
of Somalia when the people of Somalia have neither appointed
nor
elected anyone to be their president at this moment.
7:
A Feeling of Deja Vu? Djibouti has immersed itself again deeply
in
the affairs of Somalia and Somaliland.
This
is the indeed second time that the government of Djibouti has
immersed itself deeply, for its own geopolitical interests,
in an
exercise to appoint a president and a government in Somalia.
The first
time was in 1991 when the government of Djibouti appointed Mr.
Ali Mahdi
as an interim president for Somalia---the immediate result was
the urban
war in Mogadishu that set off the famine viewed around the world
and
which lead to the international intervention which brought death
and
injury to hundreds of UN peacekeepers and to thousands of Somalis
alike.
Mr. Hassan's appointment by Djibouti is already affecting the
relative
peace that some communities have established for themselves
and can
easily set off a far worse fighting in Somalia if he gets external
support for his foreign-appointed presidency and 'parliament.'
8.
Mr. Hassan will be applying the lessons he learnt from his master,
Siad Barre---Kill, kill and kill.
Salad
Hassan is a man without a vision and his first words after his
appointment by the Djibouti president were: 'We will not kill
the boys."
The 'boys' refers supposedly to the militiamen that are fighting
in
Somalia and to the factions. It should be mentioned that the
allusion to
the word 'kill' is a chilling reminder of what brought Somalia
to its
present situation at a time when Mr. Hassan was a minister and
a trusted
friend of dictator Siad Barre. The solution to the problems
of democracy
and legitimacy of representation was then 'kill and kill whoever
questions you.' Mr. Hassan seems to be harking to some old ways
and
means that he has been familiarised with under his boss, Siad
Barre.
This is not a simple slip of the tongue but a revelation of
the man that
parades himself now in the front of the UN as the president
of
Somalia.
9.
Mr Salad's so-called government in exile has no control over
any of
the territory.
Despite
the craftily arranged visit to Mogadishu, paid for by Djibouti
and which saw the renting of technical (armed vehicles) at 4000
apiece
from the Mogadishu militias, who of course welcomed the unexpected
bounty, there are no signs that this so-called government has
any
effective control over any parts of Somalia proper. And indeed,
this
will be the first time that an emigre government, which was
unlawfully
instituted in exile by a foreign country, has been extended
recognition
by the UN!
We
implore the sensible world leaders not to be taken in by the
machinations of Salad Hassan and his puppeteer, president Guelleh
of
Djibouti.The people of Somalia need the assistance of the world
to reach
a peaceful solution; but they do not need the additional onus
of a
foreign-appointed president and parliament.
We
urge the world to reward the efforts of nations that help themselves
and create the conditions of peace that engender prosperity
for their
citizens as well as those of neighbouring countries and the
citizens of
the world in general. Somaliland has created the conditions
of peace and
statehood that benefit its citizens and those of its neighbours.
We urge
the leaders of the world gathered in New York for the Millennium
Summit
to recognize the rightful existence of Somaliland and its people;
we
also request from the leaders of the world to help the people
of Somalia
proper to find a lasting peace that can help them to reconcile
and to
prosper.
References:
1. Somalia: Observations Regarding the Northern Conflict and
Resulting
Conditions, General Accounting Office, Washington (16th May
1989).
2. Africa Watch (1990) A Government at War with its own People.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SOMALILAND FORUM:
Please
visit our web site located at http://www.somalilandforum.com
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