Secret Meeting between Meles Zenawi and Hassan Tahir Aweye- good read

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Meeting Between Meles Zenawi And Hassan Dahir Awes, By Dr. Omer Ibrahim

 

By Dr. Omar Ibrahim H. Husssein

 

A secret meeting between the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the Islamic leader Sheikh Dahir Awes took place in Ferfer on the border between the two countries soon after the meeting between the Somali government and the Islamic Courts came to a dead end. Since the two Somali sides could not agree even on the agenda of the meeting, it was obvious that a war between the two was inevitable, a war in which Ethiopia and Eritrea will take sides. It will be a catastrophic war that will destabilize countries of the Horn of Africa. Both believe if hostilities erupt, there will be no winners only losers.

To pass the impasse, the shrewd Dahir Awes visited Egypt while the meeting in Khartoum was going on, a meeting he planned to be a stillborn. While he was in Egypt he contacted the Ethiopian Embassy to arrange a meeting between him and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. The Ambassador was glade to arrange such a meeting and conveyed the message to Prime Minister Zenawi.

 

 

 

At this time Sheikh Dahir was convinced that doing business with the President of Somalia was a waste of time.

 

He decided to pull the rug under his feet and directly negotiate with his arch enemy. Zenawi was at this also convinced that he had betted with the wrong horse and staying the course will lead him nowhere but disaster.

 

He decided to talk to his arch enemy as well. As a responsible leader he has to bend in order not to break. The meeting was successfully arranged but kept in complete secrecy.

President Zenawi came to the meeting without many of his body guards and heavily disguised. Sheikh Awes also came heavily disguised. His body guards were not heavily bearded as usual.They met in a small house on one corner of the town.At six o’clock Zenawi and Awes met. After the usual greetings they sat to business

 

Awes: I am glad you have accepted my call without any pre-conditions attached. I am also happy that you have finally come to your senses and realized that Islam is a force to be reckoned in Somalia, and the big Sheikh is the man to talk to.

 

Zenawi: We don’t attach conditions to things that are a matter of life and death to our people. We are not the Islamic courts to have unreasonable conditions for even talking to the other side. I believe talking should not only be between friends.

 

Awes: I believe the same thing. We have a lot in common. The truth of the matter is, I am talking to you; my number one enemy. You have to appreciate that.

 

Zenawi: When did I become your enemy? You have never seen me before today.

 

Awes: I agree we meet for the first time, but we fought deadly holy wars for the last fifteen years. Your army crossed the border and fought with me. You also armed my enemy Abdillahi Yussuf to the teeth and that tilted the balance of power in his favor. As a result he routed my army and killed many of my Mujahideen. And I was forced to seek refuge in Mogadishu far way from my home. Now that the balance of power has tilted in my favor, it is only fitting to route you and your protégé. ‘Every dog has a day’, they say. Our time has come and Inshaaleh we will prevail.

 

Zenawi: My army did not cross the border to fight you. But Abdillahi Yussuf is a friend and friends help each other. But I did not tell him or arm him to fight you. If he has misused our friendship or our armies, is that my fault? Wouldn’t you help a friend in need? He asked for defensive weapons and we gave him. However, we are not a part to your dirty civil war. Don’t blame others for your mistakes. You are engaged in Islamic wars in a country where everybody is a Muslim. By the way why do you have an army of your own and with whom do you fight, and why do you fight in the first place. To the best of my knowledge you either carry the Book or the gun. They don’t mix. Under what authority have you mixed the two?

 

Awes: After our government and system collapsed, we were forced to fill the vacuum to preserve peace and security in our land. We did not take armies with any malice but you have armed some or all of the murderous warlords to occupy us. Your unholy interference in our affairs forced us to take armies against the warlords. However, we found their weapons and their foreign ideologies were no march for the holy bullet from the holy barrel of an Islamic gun. They took to their heels routed and disgraced, and I am convinced you will follow suit. But if you leave us to our own destiny, we will silence the roaring Islamic guns, because we have no quarrels with you.

 

Zenawi: That is crystal clear, but I have a question for you, how can you declare jihad on a country that has at least four times as many Muslims as you have. What is the point of declaring Jihad on other Muslims? Wouldn’t somebody call you an Islamic warlord? If your bullets are Islamic and more effective, we have the same weapons with highly trained and hardened soldiers, very unlike your amateur Somali and foreign Islamic Youth. Tell me what do you plan to achieve; death and destruction of Muslims on both sides of the border.

 

Awes: I agree the Muslims of Ethiopia are much more than that of Somalia, but the leadership had always been Christian though more than 65 percent are Muslims by the most conservative estimate. How many Muslim Ministers are there in your government? Muslims trusted you and you betrayed them.

 

Zenawi: That is a fair question and you must be happy, I am the first Prime Minister to nominate Muslims to responsible positions like Ministerial posts. I must also tell you that we made an all out efforts to change the lopsided justice in Ethiopian government and I have succeeded to certain extent. I want to do more. Ethiopia is now a secular democratic country where the majorities or minorities if they can sway voters have their way without bloodshed.

 

I was elected democratically without coercion or intimidation. I proudly represent the new Ethiopia, and I can say with full confidence that I represent both Muslims and Christians. We are Ethiopians before we are Muslims and Christians… our motto is Ethiopia Tick Dom (Ethiopia first). We are convinced that only pluralistic and secular and democratic Ethiopia will be able to tackle the enormous task of nation building. In complete contrast, you believe in tribalism and you want to use Islam to achieve that objective. Sometimes I wonder if tribe is your religion. You have more allegiance to tribalism than to Islam. Siyad Bare brought tribal Socialism from Russia and you brought tribal Islam from Afghanistan. As Siyad failed you will fail too.

 

Awes: Tribalism and Islam are incongruent. They can’t mix. When you were elected Prime Minister of Ethiopia we were all elated, because we thought injustice and bigotry based on Religion will end there. But you turned out to be a new autocrat, and a powerful monster, using democracy to achieve dictatorial aspirations. You use both Christianity and tribalism to cling to power. Ethiopia Tick Dom is an old motto not yours. Yours is unabashedly Tigrai Tick Dom (Tigrai first).

 

The whole world knows the crimes you have committed against your people. Let me quote you what your fellow citizen Fisseha Tecle wrote on 19th June 2006, “From the massacre of over 400 Anuaks in Gambella in 2003 to June and November killing of innocent civilians, there is a substantial body of evidence implicating Zenawi and associates in crimes against humanity.” This is serious stuff even judged by an African standard. Strangely enough you want to add Somalia to your Tigray Tick Dom. We see that as megalomania without borders.

 

Zenawi: The world knows that I was elected democratically. I introduced good governance by decentralizing power. The seat of power is no longer in the hands of the Head of Government in Addis-Ababa, but distributed to various players in the country. Ethiopia is now composed of autonomous States free to rule themselves or free to secede at will. As far as the last election and your accusations are concerned, the independent commission’s report speaks for itself,” History is the witness regarding such developments in countries where fundamental transformations have taken place and our country is no exception.

 

Based on this reality, the Commission believes that according to the responsibility accorded to it by the proclamation, the actions taken by the security forces to control the violence was a legal and necessary step to protect the nascent system of government and to stop the country from descending in to a worse crisis and possibly never ending violence upheaval. The issue of proportionality can not be seen outside these realities.”

 

I lay that to rest, but to the question of Somalia under my rule, you are wrong about it completely. If I wanted to rule Somalia, I could have done that long time ago. Somalia belonged to nobody for the last 16 years. It was an orphan State destroyed and deserted by its people. Somalis have no enemy other than itself. You destroyed your country, massacred your own people, and forced them to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

 

We tried to pull heaven and earth to help the helpless Somalis We opened our houses and our countries and Addis Ababa is now swarming with Somalis. We tried to engage the Somali politician to come to some sort of reconciliation and understanding, but we failed. We spent a lot of our scarce resources and efforts on that, and we are proud of our record. We are still feverishly engaged in helping your elected government to stand on its feet. This is our way of helping you to help yourself. If we wanted to occupy Somalia we wouldn’t have engaged in making a government that can protect its own people from foreign occupation.

 

You are the one who want to occupy Somalia in the name of Islam not me. You are preparing another round of genocide far more dangerous than what the warlords did. If you have a religion as you claim you wouldn’t call for Jihad and an unjustified war at this time. This is not the right time to call for a war with Ethiopia. Ethiopia is far much stronger than you are.

 

Awes: You have a point there, but your help was only a camouflage to support your protégé. You single handedly destroyed the democratically elected Government of Abdulqassim Salat of Arta, because you accused him of being a good Muslim, and you support Abdillahi Yusuf on being secular and an Ethiopian friend. If you are right about your good intentions, you would have supported the man whom Somalia elected as its president for good or for worst. You had no right to choose what type of President we should have. That is precisely what you have done in Nairobi and it is not acceptable.

 

Zenawi: I did not elect the President; for I don’t have those magical powers for sure. The President was elected by a General Assembly representing all Somali tribes properly constituted and balanced which satisfied all participating and supporting institutions. No member of parliament was forced to vote this way or that way. A little cash or persuasion may have taken place, but that is the nature of democracy. You wouldn’t call 275 strong carefully selected leaders representing all Somalia a bunch of fools bought and sold in a market like sheep. If I can buy 275 Somali leaders for a friend, I could very well buy you. What is your price? If the price is right, I am more than willing to buy you to avoid an unjustified holy war with you?

 

Awes: It is you who say ‘Gunzab Ale Sama Mingid Ale’. ‘If you have money there are ways in the sky’. You did have money and you made highways in the hearts of our needy Parliamentarians, but I am a different breed. You can’t buy the Sheikh and I must tell you I am a true Muslim I am not for sale and no price is right for me. Any attempt to buy me is disgusting and unislamic. That is not the person or character of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Awes; the shining star of Islam in the Horn and possibly in the Islamic world.

 

Zenawi: All those you accuse me of buying are good Muslims too. The logic that every Somali have a price except you, does not sit very well with me. You are also accused of being a pawn in the hands of international terrorists. I am a Christian and I can’t see the fine differences between Muslims; please tell me how your Islam is different from that of Abdillahi Yusuf. And mind you, you are accused of harboring international terrorists, Yusuf is not

 

Awes: I am glad you ask me that question. I am a good Muslim and he is a bad Muslim. He wants human laws while I want God’s law to be the basis of our government as God wants us to have. He has no support in Somalia. All his support is you and other enemies of Islam. I can’t imagine a leader of a Muslim country who is opposed to the rules of God.

 

Zenawi: I understand that to mean a Muslim extremist is better than a moderate one. But you know religious extremism is now equated with terrorism. Our learned Sheikhs told me there is no extremism in Islam. On my part, I am proud to be a moderate Christian. I am secular too. For your own information Islam came from Ethiopia to Somalia and not from Saudi Arabia. Islam flourished in Ethiopia while you were still pagans and Idol worshippers. Islam reached Ethiopia on the 6th year of the Hijra by the cousin of Prophet Mohamed during the reign of King Negus Al-Asham. Since then till now Islam and Christianity are at peace with each other in my country. It serves no purpose to radicalize Muslims at this time.

 

Awes: They are right; there is no extremism in Islam. But at the same time Islam requires a specific way of life. You don’t just claim to be a Muslim, but you live like one. Equating Islamic extremism with terrorism is farce, sinister and you are one of those who propagate that preposterous idea to discredit me and Islam.

 

Zenawi: Enlighten me then, the Islamic way of life; I need to know that, because our Muslims and Christians live alike. But one goes to Church and the other goes to Mosque to pray, and they warship the same God. There is no inherent conflict between the two faiths at in my country.

 

Awes: One of the reasons why Muslims in Ethiopia feel oppressed and why so many of them are here with us to take part in the Jihad is because they are forced to live under the mercy of Christianity. Ethiopia is not a secular State; it is a Christian State. To get a better feel of what a Muslim State should look, see what we have done in the areas we control. To start with, we do not dress like Somalis but we dress like Muslims. My son will not be called Ina Awes ‘ the son of Awes’ like Somalis do, but I will be called Abu Ali ‘ the father of Ali’. It is symbolic but extremely important for Muslims. Sharia law is the law of the land.

 

Zenawi: Before I left Addis Ababa, I consulted a group of our learned Sheikhs and they quoted me a verse of the Quran which says,” And dispute you not with People of the Book, except with means better, unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong; But say, we believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you: Our God and your God is one: and it is to Him we bow in Islam: (Quran 29:46). So even if we are Christians we are the people of the Book and you wouldn’t declare Jihad on us, would you? On the question of dress, I better see you dressed like a Somali not like an Arab, and I better call you Sheikh Awes rather than Abu Ali or Abu Mansur. I lived in Mogadishu, and to the best of my knowledge, I have never seen a conflict between Islam and the Somali way of life.

 

Awes: We love Arabs and we are glad to adapt their way of life, because it is the Islamic way. We are politically aligned with the Arabs too.

 

Zenawi: What did Arabs do for you to deserve your love and what have we done to deserve a holy war? We are your friends and your neighbors; we stood by you in thin and thick for the last 16 years. Thousands of Somalis live in our country like our citizens. If they visit or remain there after the Hajj, in Saudi Arabia; the leader of the Islamic and Arab world, they will be deported in handcuff, beaten and imprisoned or even physically abused.

 

It was only a year ago when a Saudi Court chopped the head of six Somali men after a mock trial accusing them of harassing a Saudi tax driver in Jeddah. The countries of the IGAD tried their level best to help you in any way they can. But the Arab league did nothing for you. It was shocking and a surprise to know that you prefer Arab league mediation to IGAD after all that we have done for you. When will you know your friends from your enemies? May be when your heads are chopped by an Islamic sword.

 

Awes: You don’t understand or you are pretending not to understand. Countries of the Arab league support an Islamic State while the countries of IGAD support a secular and a Satanic State. That makes a hell of difference at least to me. Support an Islamic State and we will be your friends. We want friendship at our own terms not on your terms. Stop supporting Abdillahi Yusuf and take back your soldiers and we will love you without any help.

 

Zenawi: I am willing to support you provided you swear in the name of God that you will never engage in any activities contrary to the interest of the Ethiopian people and its elected government. Promise me you will bridle the Islamic Ethiopian insurgents whom you are harboring in Somalia who want to ferment terror in Ethiopia to destabilize it. I am at war with Eritrea on two fronts. This war has drained our human and financial recourses and I want to avoid another war with you. I say that not with any sense of weakness but out of strength and out of concern for innocent human lives.

 

Awes: That is easier said than done, because I have already created an infidel monster out of you in order to prepare the Youth for Jihad. It is not practical to tell them that I have slept with the devil and suddenly all is well. Our Islamic Youth will insist to carry out the call for the Jihad. The only way that can stop them is if you behave as though you were defeated and disgraced by supporting the enemy of Islam in Somalia. However if you are honest about supporting me, I will declare an edict in your favorable.

 

Zenawi: If I leave the President in the cold, wouldn’t that satisfy you and your cohorts to halt your holy war. The Muslim Youth have nothing to do with the war. It is your war and the Youth will get nothing except death. Abu Mansar, Abu Ali or your children will not be sent to die in a holy war. Your aim is to use others peoples’ children to die for your greed, which is very unfortunate. I am told that you have killed more Muslims than the warlords did. Would that make a good Muslim?

 

Awes: There you go again. You can’t understand what Islam is all about. Those Youth are the pride of Islam and will be fighting for Islam not for me. I have no ambition to become a President or a Prime minister. My ambition is to firmly establish the rule of God in my country. I want nothing more than a spiritual leader (Emir Al Mu’minin). As to your accusation, let me make it crystal clear, I killed infidels and enemies of Islam and I will not hesitate to do that again in self defense.

 

Zenawi: If you opt for Emir Al Mu’uminin out of humility, will that include Muslims of Ethiopia, and what will be your powers. What role will Sheriff Ahmed play in the system of government you have in mind? I like to know who is who within the Islamic Courts. Is he likely to form an Islamic government if your endeavor succeeds?

 

Awes: There should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that I will be Emir Al Mu’uminin for all Muslims in the Horn of Africa. Sooner than later, there will be an Islamic uprising in Addis-Ababa similar to that of Mogadishu. Warlordism has no future in the Horn. As far as the power of the Emir Al Mu’mineen is concerned, put it simply, both the President and the Prime Minister and the Parliament will come under him. He will be the Commander in Chief of the faithful.

 

On the question of the role and fate of Sheikh Sheriff Ahmed, he is not one of my close associates. He is only for window dressing; when the right time comes he will be safely disposed. Sheikh Turki is a pain in the *** and he is already on his way out. He caused some embarrassment for the Islamic courts. Sometimes I ask myself whether he is with us or against us. He is trigger happy both with his gun and with his mouth. My top lieutenants are Sheikh Yusuf Indhade and Adan Hashi Aro; of course the big man behind the big Sheikh is our ex President Abdulkassim Salad; thanks to him Islam is no more an orphan in Somalia.

 

Zenawi: I am glad we met today, let us talk again, after a week or so, because as the Somalis say ‘there is no consensus before talking’.

 

Dr. Omer Ibrahim; Omarh1980@hotmail.com