Al-Jazeera Video-ONLF

[Fabregas]

Originally posted by Koora-Tuunshe:

Slash, they are my people

You mean the Brothers: Ethiopian Tigray or the Terrorists?

[Abtigiis]

Koora Tuunshe;

I think your suggestion for unity among us is welcome and a noble idea. but, had it occurred to you your approach is not entirely helpful? perhaps you make a bit of introspection on that one. otherwise, what you calling for is right!

laakiin xilli la tabaalaysan yahay dee moral issue dhamaanteen inaseegan haku mashkuuline, iyagoo qabiil ah (ama aad u aragtid) taageer. perhaps then, they will say ahaa! this fellow brothers maxaan gaar uga leenahay?

The way it looks now, waa waxoogaa wiirsi-camal!

[Abtigiis]

Abu-Geljire

 

haven't got you. But you have the liberty of siding with whoever you think is a brother. why ask other to define. Mandela was a terrorist, remember!

[Gar-haye]

NEWS AFRICA

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Unrest simmers in Ethiopia's ******

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ****** National Liberation Front says it is fighting for improved rights

for the region's ethnic Somali population

 

 

Ethnic Somali separatists have been fighting government forces in the east of Ethiopia for more than 13 years now, but the long-running conflict has been largely invisible as Addis Ababa has restricted access to the region.

 

There have been numerous clashes between the ****** National Liberation Army (ONLF) and the military in recent months, with both sides claiming successes.

 

"The whole world can now see what they are doing to us. Killing and starving us to death"

 

Elyaas, ONLF field commander

 

But with few journalists in the vast and sparsely populated region that borders Somalia, it is difficult to get an accurate picture of how frequently the fighting occurs and its toll on human life.

 

However, Al Jazeera gained exclusive access to the region and found that youths, angry at the treatment of the local ethnic Somali population the government, were flocking to join the separatists.

 

"I joined the militia in 2002. I'm ready to lose my life for the sake of my country, my people and my religion," Hahdi Waa, one of ONLF's fighters, said.

 

And die he did, apparently killed in fighting with Ethiopian troops just a few day after Al Jazeera met him.

 

Military crackdown

 

Ethiopia launched a crackdown on the ONLF after its fighters attacked a Chinese oil exploration project in the Somali region in April last year.

 

The attack left at least 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers dead.

 

 

 

Human Rights Watch says that civilians have borne the brunt of the military response, with whole villages razed to the ground as well as public executions, rapes and torture.

 

"They also imposed a commercial blockade on the affected region and confiscated livestock - the main asset in this largely pastoralist region - exacerbating food shortages," the group's 2008 world report says.

 

Tens of thousands of people have reportedly fled since the fighting intensified last year.

 

"The whole world can now see what they are doing to us. Killing and starving us to death," Elyaas, an ONLF field commander, told Al Jazeera.

 

The Ethiopian government denies the accusations.

 

"I can assure you that the government is not in the business of killing people and putting them in mass graves," Bereket Simon, a government spokesman, told the Christian Science Monitor newspaper in February.

 

'Greater Somalia'

 

The ONLF was formed in 1984, but many of its members had supported Somalia in a failed war with Ethiopia over the region in the 1970s.

 

The group's aims have varied over time from increased autonomy in Ethiopia to outright independence to joining a "Greater Somalia".

 

The Ethiopian embassy in London told Al Jazeera that the region already has a sizeable degree of autonomy and is the focus of several development initiatives.

 

IN VIDEO

 

******* Somalis battle for independence

 

It also said that there was no policy of refusing entry to the media.

 

"The ministry of foreign affairs is always ready to welcome journalists on legitimate news gathering assignments, journalists who are prepared to display the responsibility, integrity and truthfulness we would expect from employees of a newspaper," it said in a statement.

 

Eritrea connection

 

Addis Ababa says the ONLF is a terrorist organisation that it has little support among the people of the Somali region.

 

It also says that regional rival Eritrea is providing the separatists with assistance.

 

However, the ONLF rejects the claims, telling Al Jazeera that rather than being supplied by Asmara, most of their own clothes and weapons were taken from dead soldiers.

 

Aid agencies have said that people are suffering severe food and medical shortages in ******.

 

"There is the possibility of a very serious humanitarian crisis in the region as a consequence of the security situation," John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said.

 

 

 

First English VIdeo.

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Abtigiis, sidee u taageeraa Urur aan Somalida baddankeedisku raacsaneyn. Bal horta dadka degaanka kula degan haku taageeran.

 

Try to win their hearts. I will eludicate two case examples that might be helpful to the leaders of ONLF. Implementing either model might be workable but would bring in different outcome.

 

Take an example of the history of Eritrean Liberation Front.(1961-1980) The organization had struggled on how to put a powerful resistance front together. Initially the ELF structure was weakened by ethnic based political mobilization and divisions and it continued to have minimal impact on its people , so it failed to draw a large and popular support. Then by 1970, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) was formed to end the discontent with the military activities and structure of ELF.

By 1980, the two went into major conflict. ELF lost to EPLF militarily but subsequent mediations between them finally led to the two merging to form a strong front.

EPLF thus embarked on a political campaign to change their war strategy and the structure of the organization.

 

Sorting out their division and differences and increasing their capacity to self-reliance, EPLF became a strong force to be reckoned with.

 

The EPLF consequently boosted the morale of their struggle by disciplining its forces ensuring they stand ready for a protracted armed insurrection against the Ethiopian regime.

 

What also aided immensely was that they distanced themselves from Middle Eastern politics.

 

My brothers, it is not easy to defeat a powerful country like Ethiopia having no reliable network of military assistance in par with Sudanese People’s Liberation Army, for instance.

 

It might be interesting to note that southerners in Sudan has a lesser population than Somalis in the Ethiopia, but what greatly helped them is their colonial legacy when Britain formed the Equatorial Corps as a countervailing balance to the Northern army. Colonial Britain feared that the Northern army had elements of Mahdist extremists and non-commissioned officers that would undermine her interest. After the country got its independence from Britain, the southerners rejected to celebrate with Khartoum citing uneven economic distribution and potential domination by the Arabs.

 

Like ONLF, Their protracted resistance had as well entrenched obstacles as to what directions to take, what political name should the resistance front be given, a name that would appeal to the majority of population and with far-reaching effect on the success of the resistance. They also sought, not secession from Sudan, but a solution based on a secular, democratic, and federal political system. This appealed to the many countries to come to their aid and to politically pressure the central government to come to terms with the Insurgency.

This finally came to be known as the two phases of Nairobi and Addis Ababa Agreements, and John Grang’ final deal with Khartoum. The latter deal clearly charted the future of his people and country.

 

In Sudan, you have a Muslim dominated government and a Christian minority. Leadership and strategy is what is missing in this struggle.

[Abtigiis]

Koora-Tuunshe;

 

A lot of what you sad makes sense, but do you think a name change will unite the people?seriously? and honestly?

yet, i still believe ONLF must change its name? But for you as a somali, it wouldn't have been difficult to support a somali clan fighting Ethiopian occupation, if you were totally free of clan-sentiment. That is what i beleive.

otherwise, the ONLF must still change its name, if at all, to embarass apologists of occupation.

 

by the way, i lived enitre my life in highland ethiopia, and am very knowledgable about the eritrean and the other facts of ethiopia's long history of internal/external warfare. i have nothing to dispute of what you said.

 

but just one last question, when Babile, Chinacsani and other lands (of the other non-O) lands are annexed to oromia, has anyone fought that injustice? and what more should have been inflcited for the other communities to rise up?

 

I think you are also missing a big part of the isue, in that the others are also to blame for the disarrray. unless you are suggesting perhaps somehow life under Ethiopia is tolerable.

 

And as to the myth of a powerful ethiopa, I think some people have the wrong perception about that. the internal disunity is much more complicated than that of somalia, and the rulers of today are not loved by anyone. It is the war on terror windfall, that kept this regime on power. and mark my words, Ethiopia will disintegrate some time soon-like any other empires. the fate of Yugoslavia is what i forsee.

Ba'char Yigtameen (see you in good health soon).

[peasant]

^ Abtigiis i have seen a lot of people from that region who are not part of the O domain and they express dissatisfaction just because of the connotation that name carries alone. Name change is a good idea if the intention is to unite all somalis who live in that region and to expel the occupiers. It is true, that the O is an overwhelming majority but that alone is not good reason to paint the entire region with an O. Bottom line is what you cant achieve with unity you wont achieve with a divisive name like this one.

[Abdulladiif Al-Fiqih]

^^They are dissatisfied with a name while their land is being taken by others, Baabile, Dire Dhabo, Harar, Chinacsane to name few. Well, baroortu orgiga kawayn adeer.

 

I am sure if the name was dropped right as we speak, they will add zero to the struggle, because, at the end of the day, the 'O'is still a majority and that is where salaadu iska qaban la'dahay.

 

If they really have a problem with the name, WHY cannot they join Jabhada Wadadnigga Xoreynta Soomaali Galbeed (JWXSG)? or better yet, create their own liberation front?

 

Well, JWXSG is headed by Sh. Ibrahim, an Ocadeni man and secondly, these folks think they are better off under Tigrey than Somali State where the O is a majority. Tough Luck.

 

There come by a day where Ocaden people will demand from ONLF and force them if they dont listen to give-up their demand on all the land beynod Dhagaxbuur to Ethiopia and Oromia.

[Nephissa]

Just because they say it with conviction, it doesn't mean schit. These folks do more harm and contribute to more casualties in the field. Their words, here on this forum, and in the streets protesting, do nothing but strengthen the enemy's resolve. People like these cause fatalities.

[Abtigiis]

Nephthys;

Way to go! master idea. by the way do you have any meanigful things to contribute except veiled clan-bashing and vitupertative rethoric?

 

you haven't said anything, i see.

[Abtigiis]

peasant,

is the name the only problem? i think that is quite dissmissive and parochial. assume the name is changed tommorrow, and what then? do you rule out the Sii-galbeed syndrome?

war dee waa la is ogyahee, yaan la isu gaban! As i said before, i hope ONLF will change its name ( even briefly) to see what follows. I know you would have come up with, ' the new organisation the SNLF is still filled with O's!).

[Abtigiis]

Abdilatif;

 

heartly greetings, SXB. keep up the fight.

[N.O.R.F]

Originally posted by Abdiladiif:

^^They are dissatisfied with a name while their land is being taken by others

Could not have said it better.

 

All this fuss about a name when the struggle is the most geniune struggle out there.

[Nephissa]

Originally posted by Abtigiis& Tolka:

Nephthys;

Way to go! master idea. by the way do you have any meanigful things to contribute except veiled clan-bashing and vitupertative rethoric?

 

you haven't said anything, i see.

Maxaad ka hadlaysaa? What clan am I bashing? I'll take it as a compliment that you think so little of my opinion, which I hold firm to. So you can stick that comment up your nose [i'm being nice here ] along with the rest of your post.

[Abdulladiif Al-Fiqih]

^You guys misunderstood each other I guess. Bal dib uggu noqda