SOMALIA: African Union Be Warned

Decision to deploy African Peace Keepers in Somalia wrong

Feb, 8.2005Radio Free Somalia (RFS)

Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and his stooge, Mr. Yussuf of Somalia

By Abdi Dirshe

Toronto, Canada – A decision to send African Peace Keeping Force to Somalia was made at the fringes of the Fourth Summit of the African Union. This decision was made at the request of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr. Zenawi to shore up protection force for Mr. Abdullahi Yussuf, the president of the new Transitional Government of Somalia. Mr. Zenawi succeeded in misleading the African Union into believing that Somalis genuinely need African troops to restore peace. He has also succeeded in hijacking the African Peace and Security Council’s agenda with respect to the Somalia Peace Process. Proposals of African Peace Mission to Somalia submitted to this council were the work of the Ethiopian Government on behalf of the Mr. Abdullahi Yussuf, a Somali warlord supported by Ethiopia.

As the people of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, welcome the first returning Somali parliamentarians from Kenya this week, the man selected to do Ethiopia’s dirty job, Mr. Yussuf, continues to misrepresent the will of the Somali people and the real issues surrounding the long-running Somalia civil war. He claims that the real threat to peace in Somalia is the instability of Mogadishu, while eighty Somali Parliamentarians are warmly received there this week. What the African Union should know is that Mr. Yussuf is being manipulated by Mr. Zenawi of Ethiopia and is executing orders given to him.

The African Union must conduct an honest appraisal of the reality on the ground in Somalia and not fall victim to the Ethiopian seduction. Somalia will be Africa’s ‘tar baby’, to borrow the former U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Smith Hompstone, if this decision is not reversed immediately. Somalis are getting ready to fight any troops sent to impose Ethiopia’s objectives in Somalia. Failing to heed this warning will be costly. Somalis reject the idea of peace imposed by military means and want a government they can trust. Mr. Yussuf should spend his time in sustaining the momentum towards peace.