SOMALILAND FORUM --
COMMUNIQUÉ,
Wednesday October 11, 2000 Ref. SF/EC-022-2000
International Funds: Easy
Money for a New Somalia Warlord?
Subsequent to the
Djibouti appointed "parliament" and "president"
(Mr.Abdulkasim Salad Hassan) for Somalia, the so-called
"president" has, through what he calls a "security
committee," under the auspices of his own clan members,
embarked on recruiting his own militia. This armament and
militia accumulation is ironically referred to as
"demobilization." Naturally, Mr. Hassan and his one-man
government need funds to lure militia men away from rival warlords
in Mogadishu and its environs. The reality is that Mr.
Hassan has no territory to attest to his "presidency.' His
objective is, therefore, to carve his own turf in Mogadishu, which
is already divided into several fiefdoms, for a
"presidency" without a territory. Mr. Hassan, as
the new warlord on the block, therefore, evidently needs a lot
of money.
For now, Mr. Hassan's search for funds to finance his
fiefdom involves several strategies, among them:
Assets in international banks:
It appears that Mr. Hassan, with the help of Ismail O. Guelleh, the
president of Djibouti, is campaigning to acquire the
frozen assets of the defunct Somali Democratic Republic.
According to a very reliable source, Guelleh and Hassan
have been scurrying to get the money freed from
the international banks. The governor of the
National Bank of Djibouti, Mr. Hayd, has been in touch with
diplomats in Belgium and Geneva with whom he
explored the feasibility of acquiring those assets by
persuading the international banks to release the assets to
Mr. Hassan's "government."
Assistance from Arab countries:
Here, Mr. Hassan's strategy is to
make the rounds in the Arab capitals, especially those
willing to give cash handouts, and have no one to answer to.
Reportedly, Mr. Salad has already received some seed money
for the advent of his warlordship from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Already, before even having formed his "cabinet"
or "government" for that matter, the Djibouti-appointed
parliament in-exile is discussing the
"president's" behavior on several issues. He is being
accused of violating the so-called "transitional
charter" (adopted bythose invited to the Djibouti conference
by Mr. Guelleh), by engaging in unapproved activities, including
misuse of funds donated by the international community during
his overseas tour (see BBC Monitoring Service, October 8, 2000).
These recent accusations of misappropriation of public funds
are consistent with the past record of Mr. Hassan and most
of the individuals in his administration, who like him
were ministers in the government of the late Somali
dictator Siad Barre, and who are in many ways responsible
for the Somali tragedy. To give just one example, Mr. Ali
Khalif Galaydh, who was recently chosen as "prime
minister" by Mr. Hassan, became widely known to have
been involved in the Mareeray sugar factory scam, when
he was in charge of that project in the early 1980s (see AFP
October 9, 2000; see also the Republican, an independent
Somaliland newspaper, Issue 127, September 2, 2000).
Most of the money for the sugar project came from
international sources such as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
EU and ACP (Lomé Convention) funds:
Mr. Hassan's scheme appears to
request for restoration of assistance to Somalia, which would mean
handing the funds to him, since there is no government to speak
of in Somalia. It is evident that M r. Hassan is bent on
using these funds to become the highest bidder for the Mogadishu
gunmen-for-hire, thereby undermining any semblance of peace
and equilibrium that has been achieved between the several
factions of Mogadishu before his arrival on the scene.
However, in the grand scheme of things, what difference would it
make if one warlord from a clan displaces another from the
same clan? Mogadishu has other Somali clans such as the Abgal who
have yet to reconcile with the Haber Gidir. The truth is, so far,
no cease-fire or conflict resolution has been concluded
between the existing Mogadishu factions and if Mr.Hassan
succeeds in establishing a new faction it would not bring peace
and stability to the Benadir Region, but would rather sow fresh
uncertainties and new violence between the southern
factions.
Already, the telltale signs of fresh round of factional
war are in the air.
Right now, the situation in Mogadishu has
worsened. Inflation has skyrocketed and trade, which was
flourishing before the Djibouti conference, has decreased
while the price of arms and ammunition has gone up. Violence and
communal strife have increased dramatically. Targeting
humanitarian workers is in the rise, and, as a result, on
September 19, the UN had to evacuate its employees in Merka, near
Mogadishu. Gun battles involving artillery barrage and heavy
weapons have resumed in Mogadishu with deadly results to the
civilian population.
The Somaliland Forum, therefore,
appeals to the international community not to overlook the
damages that new funds for a new warlord can inflict on all
Somalis and to be conscious of their unintentional
contribution to these damages. We call upon the
international donors and specifically the Arab leaders to
provide humanitarian assistance through humanitarian
instruments such as the Red Crescent or the IRC to the
populations afflicted by the civil war.
We also call on the international banks and donors that
any assets or accumulated funds belonging to the defunct Somali
State must not be released to Mr. Hassan or to any future
"contender" who would claim to be a
successor government of a state that no longer exists.
We appeal to the concerned authorities to keep frozen any
funds or assets held in the name of the Somali Democratic
Republic until such a time when an agreement on the
partition of such funds can be reached between the
government of Somaliland and a representative government of
Somalia.
We urge, on the other hand, the international community and
western donors to continue providing humanitarian assistance
through the existing humanitarian agencies. We also urge the UN
and concerned world leaders to help with genuine peacemaking
negotiations that would be held within Somalia proper so the
process would be free from foreign manipulation.
SOMALILAND FORUM
SLF
Backgrounder:
The Somaliland Forum (SLF)
is an international organization that brings together
Somalilanders from all parts of the world mainly through the
medium of the Internet. The primary objective of the Forum is to
work with the Somaliland communities around the world in order to
provide some lasting solutions to the needs of the Republic of
Somaliland and its people. For more information, Please visit
forum's web site at: http://www.somalilandforum.com
FOR
MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS
SPOKESPERSONS FOR THE FORUM::
North
America:
Ms. Amina Malko, Canada
Somaliland Forum Chair
Email: chair@somalilandforum.com
Tel: (905) 707-7442 or (416) 879-9279
Europe:
Dahir Abdi Jama
London, U.K.
Mobile(cell): 07947 797246, Tel: (0)208 882 3764
Email: Dahir@dahir.freeserve.co.uk
Middle East
Mr. A.Ismail
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Email:nero@ncc.moc.kw
Tel: 965 2630592
Australia:
Dr. Ahmed Diriye
Mayogo Court
South Guildford WA 6055
Tel/Fax: (08) 9279 76055
Email: aderia@carmen.murdoch.edu.au