Ismaaciil Cumar Geelle

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Rumours are circulating that he is gravely ill and is being treated in a Paris hospital. African leaders and running to European capitals the moment they think they are slightly sick. 

Djibouti says rumours about president's health are 'poison'

Djibouti on Tuesday dismissed speculation about President Ismail Omar Guelleh's health as "poison" aimed at destabilising the country and said the 73-year-old was simply taking a few days off to recover from overwork.

Re-elected for a fifth term in April, Guelleh has ruled Djibouti since 1999 and has used his country's unique position on the Horn of Africa to lure investors and foreign military powers, all while keeping an iron grip on power.

Hours after rumours began to circulate Monday that Guelleh had flown to Paris and checked into a hospital, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf issued a series of tweets saying the reports on social media were incorrect.

All the information circulating on the networks is poison spread to disturb our fellow citizens," Youssouf wrote.

"Our President is fine. A slight bout of fatigue from overwork and a lack of rest during the summer forced him to take a few days of rest and get a check-up."

Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed accused unnamed opponents of "spreading nauseating rumours" and seeking to destabilise the country.

Djibouti says rumours about president's health are 'poison'

September 14, 2021, 9:48 am

Re-elected for a fifth term in April, Guelleh has ruled Djibouti since 1999 (AFP/TONY KARUMBA)

Djibouti on Tuesday dismissed speculation about President Ismail Omar Guelleh's health as "poison" aimed at destabilising the country and said the 73-year-old was simply taking a few days off to recover from overwork.

Re-elected for a fifth term in April, Guelleh has ruled Djibouti since 1999 and has used his country's unique position on the Horn of Africa to lure investors and foreign military powers, all while keeping an iron grip on power.

Hours after rumours began to circulate Monday that Guelleh had flown to Paris and checked into a hospital, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf issued a series of tweets saying the reports on social media were incorrect.

"All the information circulating on the networks is poison spread to disturb our fellow citizens," Youssouf wrote.

"Our President is fine. A slight bout of fatigue from overwork and a lack of rest during the summer forced him to take a few days of rest and get a check-up."

Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed accused unnamed opponents of "spreading nauseating rumours" and seeking to destabilise the country.

"The President of the Republic is on private travel, as was long planned on his agenda, and will be back in the next few days in Djibouti," Mohamed wrote on Facebook.

- Handpicked successor -

A polyglot who speaks six languages, Guelleh, better known by his initials IOG, was the handpicked successor to his uncle Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the country's first president after independence from France in 1977.

As Aptidon's powerful chief of staff, he had control over security forces and the intelligence services in a role he held for 22 years.

In 1999, Aptidon stepped down, passing the torch to Guelleh, who was elected without a struggle.

Guelleh seized on Djibouti's unique geographic location on the Red Sea to develop the tiny, arid nation of one million people into a reliable international military and maritime hub.

The third-smallest country by area on the African mainland, and sandwiched between volatile neighbours, Djibouti embarked on an infrastructure blitz, courting major investment in its quest to become the "Dubai of Africa".

It hosts military bases for global powers including France, the United States, Japan and China.

Despite a plethora of infrastructure projects however, many Djiboutians still live in grinding poverty.

Guelleh's government has also been accused by rights groups of cracking down on dissent, limiting free speech and suppressing opposition parties.

With an age cap prohibiting him from running a sixth time, Guelleh is expected to anoint a successor from within his own trusted circle, in much the same fashion as his own appointment.

Yahoo News

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

The president is fine .he is doing very good may he rule for decades to come.

[galbeedi]

1 hour ago, Xaaji Xunjuf said:

The president is fine .he is doing very good may he rule for decades to come.

He isn't fine, and he will not finish his term. Take that to the bank.

Why would anyone travel to a Paris hospital for fatigue related issues. If he needs rest, he should be sipping Aqua Fina in the Frech Rivera or some quite place in Africa.He is 73 years old, overweight with diabetes and other illnesses nobody else knows.Most of his brothers and family members died because of obese related illnesses. 

He has even a vacation home in Bishuftu (Formely Debra Zait) 50km south of Addis, surrounded by lake and cool climate.

Like most dictators we will only hear when he dies......suddenly.

Guys, please leave the Djibouti issues to us. We know in and out.

There is already a power struggle among the family members.

There are three groups and one outside group.

1- The eldest Daugherty Fatouna Awo and her Ivorian man Tony are aligned with the intelligence chief and and the chief security for Omar Geelle. THey want to take over through one of their own. The Ivorian could hire French mercenaries or even west African gangs to subdue the locals.

2-First Lady Khadra  Hayd.  the first lady have an Afar  son from a previous marriage from a former premier of Djibouti before she married Omar Geelle. He is an alcoholic , but he has the support of his mother and some Afar community members connected to the ruling family.

3-Liibaan Omar Geelle is another Son from a different mother. He is a well grounded businessman who owns a construction company. He has the full support of the inner clan of Omar Gheelle and the military chief who is his own uncle and might support him. He is an outsiders who doesn't involve any politics. If this thing becomes a family affair and hereditary he has the best shot.

4- The outsiders: The armed Afar opposition group and their allies.

There are no credible opposition in Djibouti who are well organized to cause any major problems. Those inside Djibouti have been starved and do not have any ability to organize, and the rest are in the diaspora waging war through Facebook.

The Afar with the help of Somali oppositions had vowed that the next president will not be from the Omar Geelle family. I  know personally the number two man of the Afar opposition who is based in LOndon, and these guys are very angry. They are the only opposition who are well armed. 

On the other hand, If the despot dies suddenly, any thing could happen. The 90% poor of Djibouti hate the small group who owned the whole city. It fear disappeared suddenly and people rise, the Geelle family could flee to Paris or Brussels .

If he is a wise man,  which I doubt, he should choose his successor now before things get ugly.

 

 

 

[galbeedi]

Soldiers are deployed in Djibouti streets as we speak.

Tomorrow will hear the big news.

[maakhiri1]

Something is up, possibly expired days ago

[Dhagaxtuur]

I hope that people of Djibouti survive this fitna.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Asylum-seeking Djibouti footballer spends week in airport

Three members of Djibouti's national football team are seeking asylum in France, where one of them was allowed to leave an international airport in Paris on Friday after a week in the transit zone.

Nasrodin Abdi Aptidon left Orly airport seven days after failing to board a connecting flight as Djibouti travelled for a 2022 World Cup qualifier via the French capital.

On Wednesday, his two team-mates - Bilal Hassan and Aboubakar Elmi - had received clearance from French authorities to leave the airport following a meeting goalkeeper Aptidon missed because of a short illness.

All three have been granted a 72-hour period to file documentation to French authorities which could then allow them a further three months to present their case.

A human rights organisation helping the footballers fears that both Hassan and Elmi, who work for the Djibouti state, may end up in prison should they be denied asylum and forced to return home.

Elmi works for the police service while Hassan is said to have sought asylum after claiming he was forced to follow orders he did not want to carry out while serving in Djibouti's Republican Guard.

"They are harassed by the government every time they say something that is not correct," said Jean-Loup Schaal, president of ARDHD (Association for the Respect of Human Rights in Djibouti).

"Hassan was forced to do things he refused to do, like arrest people from his family. So they said it not possible to continue to arrest their people."

Both Hassan, whose wife is reportedly in the final stages of pregnancy, and Elmi have wives and families in Djibouti.

The team stopped in Paris after it was not possible to fly direct to Morocco, where Djibouti lost against Niger on Monday, from Algeria, where the team had been thumped 8-0 by the African champions four days earlier.

Algeria cut diplomatic relations last month with their north African neighbours, who were only hosting the Niger tie after Djibouti's national stadium was deemed unfit to host international games.

Schaal said the players told him that the heavy nature of Djibouti's defeat by Algeria prompted fears about what might happen to them upon their return to the East African nation.

After the Djibouti delegation missed their original flight from Paris to Morocco because of incorrect documentation relating to both transit visas and Covid tests, the three players hatched an escape plan.

When the delegation eventually departed on the evening of Friday 3 September, the trio were nowhere to be seen after going into hiding.

"They were afraid to go back to Djibouti having lost by so much," said Schaal, who visited the players while they were stuck in the airport. "They did not plan this but took the decision while in Paris."

Until the hearing on Wednesday that allowed Hassan and Elmi to leave, all three footballers had been staying in Orly's transit zone.

"They were not allowed to enter France and the only time they went out of the transit zone was to go to a court in Creteil," Schaal explained.

The players would spend all day in the airport's transit area before being taken to a hotel, also in the transit zone, to sleep at night.

If the trio are ultimately successful when presenting their case to French immigration authorities OFPRA, they will be allowed to remain in France.

The BBC has sought comment from the football federation of Djibouti, a country which has never qualified for either a World Cup or Africa Cup of Nations and which is ranked 182nd by Fifa.

Xigasho

[galbeedi]

Omar Geele was suffering swallowed Knee for a long time.

The latest news is since his knees can't take any heavy pressure, he fell and broken his  upper leg. Then they flown him to France for operation. during the surgery, he was unable to come back from anesthesia. Reliable reports say he is in a coma.

According to Djibouti constitution , the speaker of the parliament will be acting president until one is elected. The military had a meeting yesterday, but no one knows their plans.