Mohamed Osman’s new book on the events in Somalia is an anguished cry from the heart of a patriotic Somali. He finds his beloved country in a desperate situation in which Somalis are at the mercy of warring factions, who have dismembered the country in to fiefdoms and neighbours who strongly oppose the emergence of a strong and stable government in a united country.

He poses the question why the international community that is so concerned about the peace and stability in Afghanistan, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Rwanda is indifferent to what is happening in Somalia.

It is true; the UN intervention led by the United States in Somalia in early 90s was aborted because of the death of eighteen American marines. Nevertheless, no one seems to care and mention how many Somalis died during the UN operation. Those Somali lives, perhaps, had less value in the eyes of the international community.

The tragedy of Somalia began when the departing colonial powers instead of unifying the country decided to fragment the Somali people. While occupying the Northern part of Somalia, the British gave Somali territories of Ogaden and NFD to Ethiopia and Kenya respectively. Italy occupied the Southern part of Somalia from 1889 until it lost to Britain during the second Word War in 1943. However, Italy returns to the country in 1950 under the UN mandate to administer Somalia until independence in 1960.

It is indeed tragic that when the continent is trying to build a united Africa, Somalia is being dismembered and its people terrorised by armed militias roaming the streets carrying automatic guns.

The book emphasises that Ethiopia, which have long-standing territorial dispute with Somalia, is actively financing and arming factions to keep the country in turmoil and divided. Ethiopia vehemently opposed the government established after a decade of lack of government in Somalia. It openly denies the Somali people the right to have a government of its choice. The book emphasises that Ethiopia’s opposition is not against Abdikassim or any other person becoming President of Somalia, but what irritates Addis Ababa is Somalia having a government. Ethiopia even tried to brand Somalia as a terrorist state, hoping to provoke the United States in destroying Somalia.

The author quotes the report of the Panel of Experts appointed by the United Nations, which states that “Ethiopia has played an overt military role in Somalia. Not only has Ethiopia been a major source of weapons for a number of Somali groups, Ethiopia has also invaded and occupied parts of Somalia.”

The biggest irony was, while the Somalis were engaged in fighting against each other, IGAD mandated Ethiopia to look after Somalia and to solve the Somali conflict with the task of mediating and reconciling the Somalis. This was, for Ethiopia, a dream come true, because even in 1949, when Somalia’s fate was under discussion at the United Nations, Ethiopia was among the countries contending for the post of the head of the Trusteeship Council for Somalia. However, the UN Security Council nominated Italy as the Chief of the AFIS (Amministrazione Fiduciaria Italiana della Somalia). The author states that, IGAD to mandate Ethiopia to solve Somalia’s conflict was like mandating Israel to mediate in a conflict in an Arab country.

It graphically describes the maneuvers of Ethiopian Prime Minister to deny Somalia its rightful place in the family of nations. It reveals how the Kenyan Special Envoy and the Ethiopian delegate to the Conference manipulated the process to sabotage the Transitional National Government; the only government that has emerged after ten years of no government in the country.

The Author quotes the former President of Kenya, Daniel T. arap Moi, who have revealed the hidden agenda of both, his own country and Ethiopia, the two main protagonists of the Somali Reconciliation Conference in Nairobi as saying: “Regional suspicion of Somalia's expansionist dreams has been cited as a drawback in that country's peace efforts. “Its neighbours feared that a reunited and prosperous nation might resurrect Somalia's territorial claims.”

Mohamed Osman does not withdraw his punches when he comes to the role of the fellow Somalis. He says that ultimately their utter selfishness and self-serving nature is to be blamed for the sorry plight in which the country finds itself. The tribalism is standing in the way of the emergence of a strong nationalist state. The Somalis will have to account before history what they were doing when their country needed them to rally round the flag. How will we explain to our future generation?

The Book: “SOMALIA between Devils and Deep Sea” is the account of the situation in which Somalia found itself since the collapse of the Military government in 1991 and with particular emphasis on the Arta Peace and Reconciliation Process (2000), the outcome of which was the re-emergence of the Somali nationhood from the abyss of despair. Despite all the intrigues of the enemies of Somali people, inside and outside, the government that emerged from Arta is forcefully holding the flag, the symbol of Somali nationhood. Only those who do not appreciate the value of independence and sovereignty would despise the outcome of the Arta Peace Process.

The Book extensively discussed the conference on Reconciliation held in Nairobi and the negative role played by the so-called IGAD Facilitation Committee led by Kenya and influenced by Ethiopia. The author classifies the Mbagathi conference as the most divisive and destructive process, as it has created more divergence than convergence among the Somalis. It reveals the mismanagement and plunder of the Conference since 15 October 2002 by the so-called Technical Committee led by Kenya and the flagrant violation of the IGAD resolution by Kenya and Ethiopia, Chairman of the Committee and a member of the Committee respectively.

Mohamed Osman collected as much information as he could to make the book as informative as possible to give the reader a wider knowledge of the events that are causing so much pain to the Somali nation. He is objective in his analysis of the facts and harsh to those who have aligned themselves with the archenemy of the Somali people.

All those who wish to have a greater understanding of the failure of the Somali faction leaders and the interference of the regional and world “super powers” in the internal affairs of the Somali Republic must read this book.

The preceding review is by http://www.markacadeey.com. Visit for more original content.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Mohamed Osman Omar has been the Somali Ambassador to India since June 1989. He has written several books on his country. Covers of his other books are shown below.

 

ORDER THE BOOK:  The Author is marketing the publication on his own. Send an email to him at mosman65@yahoo.com or mosman61@hotmail.com  and he’ll tell you where to obtain a copy of any of his books.

OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR