A case of the pot calling the kettle black

[N.O.R.F]

 

A case of the pot calling the kettle black

By Omar Shariff, Staff Writer

 

 

 

It's a sign of the times we live in. A gang of blood-stained warlords sees no irony in forming an "Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism".

 

Somalia has been without an effective central government ever since President Siad Barre's military regime was overthrown in 1991 by clan-based militias. Rival warlords have since turned vast parts of this Horn of Africa nation into wastelands.

 

Of late, there's been a new kid on the block. Promising to restore law and order, a network of 11 courts, calling itself the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), seized the capital Mogadishu in June this year and routed the warlords, who have established a weak, parallel government under President Abdulahi Yousuf Ahmad and Prime Minister Ali Mohammad Ghedi, in Baidoa, 250 km away.

 

Many Somalis point out that life under the UIC, which is reported to be making serious attempts to stem anarchy and check the pervasive gun culture, is far better than that under the warlords. There are fewer checkpoints in the capital, where militiamen used to stop vehicles and demand money. Since that has stopped, the prices of essential goods have fallen significantly.

 

The UIC was formed with the backing of Somali businessmen fed up with the rampant corruption and lawlessness under the militias. Ordinary people in Mogadishu, furious at the excesses of militiamen in the dreaded "technicals" - old pick-up trucks converted into battle vehicles with mounted heavy machine guns - also welcomed the UIC, who they see as heavy-handed but uncorrupt rulers.

 

However, the UIC has a problem: it has fallen foul of the United States. Washington accuses it of having links to Al Qaida, an allegation the group has angrily denied. The warlords, of course, lost little time in jumping on the "anti-terrorist" bandwagon, forgetting their own violent past. They have fed unsubstantiated claims about the Islamists' links to foreign extremists, in order to get US support.

 

Covert CIA funding

 

There have been credible reports of covert CIA funding for the warlords. But this American strategy shows little sign of working, if the rapid territorial gains of the UIC are anything to go by.

 

Ironically, these are the same warlords whose militiamen brought down 2 US helicopters in Mogadishu in 1993, and killed 18 American troops in a street battle that followed. The incident was immortalised in the blockbuster movie Black Hawk Down. (However, few know that in the same 15-hour battle, US troops killed more than 1,000 Somalis.)

 

But the warlords are now America's unofficial allies in the "war on terror". Besides, they have significant funding from Ethiopia, Somalia's old foe. The UIC's considerable arsenal is largely a result of aid from Eritrea, Ethiopia's bitter rival.

 

The worse-case scenario for the Somali people would be overt US and Ethiopian funding of the warlords, and extremists from around the region pouring in to help the UIC. This must be avoided at all cost if there is to be some hope of a decent outcome to the existing situation in this war-ravaged country. Besides, the UIC must give credible assurances to the international community that it will not encourage the Talibanisation of Somali society.

 

The prospects for peace remain dim, though. Foreign interference in Somalia's internal affairs in unlikely to end. And a government of national unity seems a remote possibility. The two sides have already held one round of talks, which were mediated by Sudan. The government in Baidoa accused the UIC of breaking the terms of a proposed ceasefire by continuing to expand its territory. It has sought the help of the African Union, a move that the UIC vehemently opposes.

 

A group of 36 government lawmakers paid a visit to one of the UIC's most influential leader, Shaikh Dahir Aweys, last Wednesday in Mogadishu. However, a government spokesman said the MPs were not representing the government.

 

Shaikh Aweys also said that the UIC was committed to another round of peace talks due to be held under the mediation of the Arab league in Khartoum on October 30. But the government in Baidoa has openly accused the Arab League of being biased towards the UIC.

 

All the while, ordinary Somalis continue to pay the price. There appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel for this most impoverished country in one of the world's most impoverished regions.

 

GN