For quite some time it has been common knowledge among Somalis that the secessionist politicians in Hargeisa harbour deep routed animosity for all Somalis in the Horn of Africa except, perhaps, their own clan. Mr.Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, the former separatist leader fueled the fire of the civil war in southern Somalia with money and weapons in the believe that the longer the civil war continued there, the better would be the chances for Somaliland to get international recognition. It was Mr.Egal who started handing over innocent Somalis {ostensibly as terrorists} to the Ethiopian government. This ruthless, utterly abhorrent and by all standards inhuman and unsomali behavior is maintained till today by his successor.
 
Mr.Faisal Ali Warabe, a chairman of one of the subclanish  parties in Hargeisa once said that and I quote:” a Somalilander could better understand and cooperate with an Ethiopian than he would with a Somali from the south” Unquote. This misguided amateur politician uttered this infamous statement at a time when the secessionists were beseeching recognition from the Ethiopian government which they mistakenly thought would be the key to African and world recognition for their enclave.
 
Recently, while addressing a group of his clan {some of whose loyalty to Somaliland he obviously suspected} Mr. Warabe told his audience, Quote:”Any one who talks about rejoining Somalia will get his/her tongue cut off” Unquote. 
 
Just a few days ago Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud {Silanyo}, the leader of another subclanish party, told his supporters during a visit to London that Somali unity serves only the interests of the “expansionist” clan that produced Ahmed Guray, Mohamed Abdullah Hassan and Mohamed Siyad Barre. Unlike Mr.Warabe who is politically immature and personally irresponsible, Mr.Silanyo is a seasoned politician who held prominent political posts during the presidency of the late Mohamed Siyad Barre. Hence, it is unbecoming of him to utter pronouncements in line with those of Mr.Warabe’s unless he is suffering from an incurable phobia about Somali unity.
 
Moved by the Somali tragedy and with the intention of trying to salvage what is left of the country, Mr. Donald M. Payne of the United States Congress invited the TFG of Somalia, the Puntland administration  and the Somaliland administration to a meeting in Washington on 25th June, 2009. All the three entities accepted the invitation to the meeting the purpose of which was to discuss the current situation in the country with the aim of establishing ways and means of cooperation between the three Somali administrations. Congressman Payne’s idea was that once an inter-Somali cooperation is obtained, then he could secure American {and consequently international} firm involvement and support towards putting an end to the chaos in the country.
 
The TFG and the Puntland administration showed up for the meeting while the secessionist clique abstained despite its previous confirmation to attend. In a last minute regret letter to the Honorable Congressman the clique’s “foreign minister” said that he would not be attending the meeting because “Somaliland is an independent country which has nothing to do with Somalia”. “However”, he continued, “the Republic of Somaliland would be ready to cooperate with the U.S government in matters related to counter terrorism, piracy etc.” provided that the U.S government would deal with Somaliland as an independent country. What a primitive mediocre diplomacy!!!
 
The secessionists repeatedly argue that they deserve to be treated differently from the rest of Somalia because while the rest of Somalia is in turmoil, they are flourishing in an oasis of peace and prosperity. This is a baseless argument; otherwise how would they justify the presence of their militia in unionist Sool region and its capital Lasanod which they invaded in October, 2007 and expelled over 60.000 of its population from their homes. Most of these victims of the Hargeisa administration’s aggression are scattered all over the region and neighboring regions living  in misery either in refugee camps or with relatives who could hardly take care of their basic needs for survival. Some had trekked all the way to refugee camps in Kenya while others ventured the high seas towards Yemen and beyond. The secessionist militias are also present in Sanag and Cayn regions to suppress the largely pro union natives there.
 
For anyone who questions their abhorrence for being part of a united Somalia, the secessionists have a ready answer: “because Mohamed Siyad Barre treated us badly”. They ignore to mention that the former president also treated badly all those who challenged his rule or threatened the country’s sovereignty. The inhabitants of the central and north-eastern regions suffered most under the socialist regime, but nevertheless these regions never considered independence from the rest Somalia after the president’s demise.
 
During the war of liberation led by Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan {1900-1921} in which the people of the regions of Sool,Sanag and Cayn {SSC} formed the bulk and backbone of the freedom fighters, most of the Somali clans in the Horn of Africa sided with the British, Ethiopian and Italian colonialists in suppressing this sacred Darwish Movement and in massacring the SSC Dawishes as well as non combatants including old men, women and children. As a reward for massacring their own kit and kin the pro colonialist Somalis were promised, and subsequently received, the livestock and land of the Darwish freedom fighters. The forefathers of the separatists in Hargeisa, Burao and Berbera benefited most from the spoils of war for superbly serving their British masters. Yet despite this gruesome experience at the hands of their own countrymen, the inhabitants of the SSC regions are staunch advocates of Somali unity. Unlike the secessionists, the grandchildren of the great Darwishes bear no malice for the Somali nation.
 
After eighteen years of international disinterest in their unjust cause, it is time that the recognition begging administration in Hargeisa realized that avoiding to sit with other Somalis to solve the bleeding nation’s problems is not in anybody’s interest more so their own. After all, an ostrich doesn’t guarantee its own safety by hiding its head in the sand. 
 
 
Ahmed Tabaatiig
Kuwait
ahmedtabaatiig@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Openinion expressed here are those of the authors and does not necessarly reflect the opions of this website