Somalia's Interim Speaker missing in action after ambush in Bakool Region

 The whereabouts of Somalia's Parliamentary Speaker Abdalla Deerow Issak are unknown today following heavy fighting that left many people dead in the Bakool Region. The delegation, led by the Speaker, was on its way to the regional capital, Hoddur, to woo support for the transitional government when it was ambushed by forces of the Rahanweyne Resistance Army (RRA). Hassan Barrise has been monitoring the situation and emailed this report from Mogadishu: 

Hassan Barrise: According to independent sources, the fighting broke out this morning when the Parliamentary Speaker, Abdalla Deerow Issak started to make his way towards Hoddur, the regional capital of Bakool. Issak has been left in a vulnerable position, because many of the security personnel who'd accompanied him to the region was send back to Mogadishu after he received warm reception in his home town of Tieglow last night. The sources told me that RRA fighters were sent from Baidoa yesterday to lie in wait for Issak's delegation. They ambushed him just one mile outside Tieglow town. It is reported that Issak's security men fled quickly after being belted with heavy gunfire. At least nine people are said to have died and several others injured. The whereabouts of the Parliamentary Speaker are unclear, although according to unconfirmed reports, he fled into unknown destination with a few bodyguards. After the ambush, the RRA fighters entered Tieglow town and stormed the house where Issak has spent the night. They killed three of his close relatives before ransacking the building. The governor of Bay region, Mohamed Ali Adam Qalinle, who is an RRA supporter, told me today that his forces had defeated those of the transitional government. We chased the aggressors out of our territory, adding that the RRA has captured five vehicles and a large quantity of ammunitions, equipment and fuel. Although the government has given no official comment about today's fighting, it has been confirmed that the Speaker’s delegation has lost most of its trucks and firepower to the RRA. 

Chris Bickerton: Hassan Barrise emailed that report from Mogadishu

 Bickerton: So the efforts of the transitional government to sort out problems in Bay and Bakool regions had ended in disaster and the bloodshed in Bay this morning has raised serious questions about the transitional government's position. David Stephen, the Special UN Representative to Somalia is currently in London and Mary Harper put it to him that by being dragged into this fighting the transitional government (TG) had become just (surprise! surprise!) another faction:

 David Stephen: No, that is not true. What is happening in the Rahanweyne region is that the RRA, the Rahanweyne Resistance Army, their leader, Colonel Shaatigudud did withdrew from the process. He had been to Arta Conference in Djibouti. He accompanied the head of the Transitional National Government on his successful visit abroad immediately after the government was formed, but then he decided to withdraw. That clearly caused major problems within the Rahanweyne Resistance Army. The RRA ministers have stayed on. He did not take with him out of that government. The Minister of Finance is former senior Rahanweyne political functionary and the Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Abdalla Deerow is also a Rahanweyne, but some of them have profound differences with the TNG, about misunderstanding about the extend which the TNG is going to lead towards a Federal regime. The RRA thus has serious concerns about land re-distribution. The present problems largely arose because the forces of Aideed moved into Rahanweyne farming areas and displaced the farmers who provided food for the rest of Somalia... 

Mary Harper: But how can the Transitional government resolve that essential issue without probably resorting to violence? 

David Stephen: Well, by going through a process of law which is as fair and as open as possible...

 Mary Harper: But there is no law in Somalia now, is there?  

David Stephen: There is basis for the law, because the Djibouti Process produced a transitional National Charter, which is not perfect but which very clearly states creation of National Commission to look into the land issue. Yes, of course, there are people who are skeptical, including the RRA who'd withdrawn or are not in the process, bit it is possible that with good will to solve these issues. Let me just tell you how difficult it is to do this. There are no records in Somalia. All the national archives are destroyed. So as far as we can see at this stage, land adjudication has to be done by word of mouth. A judge would've to call people to his court and say who lived in this farm at such and such a time. They would have to say we remember such and such a family and then there have to be some sort of judgment. It is going to be long and difficult. 

Chris Bickerton: UN Special Representative for Somalia David Stephen

January 6, 2001
Web posted at: 1:24 PM EST (1824 GMT)

January 6, 2001
Web posted at: 1:24 PM EST (1824 GMT)

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Militia gunmen attacked government forces escorting the parliament's speaker and other officials on Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens of others, witnesses said. The fate of the officials was unknown.

More than 200 Rahanwein Resistance Army gunmen ambushed speaker Abdalla Derow Issak's entourage as it was leaving Teiglow village, 185 miles northwest of Mogadishu, in the RRA-controlled Bakol region. The officials, accompanied by about 100 government soldiers, were in Bakol to seek support for the government of this East African nation.

The attack was the latest setback for the new national government led by President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, who has been facing stiff resistance from armed militias since he was elected at a national reconciliation conference in neighboring Djibouti in August.

Somalia had not had a central government since 1991, when opposition leaders joined forces to oust dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Factional leaders then fought with each other, turning the nation of 7 million into battling fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed militias.

The RRA, reportedly backed by neighboring Ethiopia, has been divided in recent months. Issak, the secretary general of the RRA, was elected speaker by the 245-member assembly after Hassan took power, but the RRA chairman, Hassan Mohamed Nur, has openly refused to recognize the new government.

In the attack early Saturday, the RRA gunman pelted the soldiers with heavy gunfire, including anti-craft fire, using 15 trucks specially fitted with anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns in the ambush, said the witnesses, who asked not to be identified.

The RRA captured trucks, weapons, ammunition and fuel from the government forces, Ali Aden Qalinleh, governor of Bay and an RRA official, told The Associated Press in a radio interview.

"We seriously defeated the aggressors sent by ... Hassan, and we chased them out of our territory," Qalinleh said.

Minister of Higher Education Mohamed Ali Kalay and more than 15 legislators were also with the group. Their fate was also unknown.

Unconfirmed reports said Issak managed to escape.

Gunmen also stormed the house where Issak spent Friday night in Teiglow, his hometown, killing three of his close relatives, the witnesses said.

The government declined immediate comment on the attacks.

Issak's delegation was traveling through the region to lobby public support for the government. Earlier in the week, Baidoa, the capital of the RRA-controlled Bay region, was cut off from the outside world for five days after the RRA ordered all the town's communications businesses to close.

The ambush is the second big setback for the government in recent weeks. On Dec. 19, government forces were forced to withdraw from Balad town, 20 miles north of Mogadishu, after being attacked by a private militia loyal to Muse Sudi Yalahow, a Mogadishu-based faction leader.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.