Oh, Ogadeniya

During the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’ in the late 1880’s, various European empires claimed different African territories and as a result lands with Somali speakers/Somali people were taken by different colonial powers. Somalia become one of the countries that was colonised by several super powers at once; Britain claimed Northern Somalia, Italy took control of Southern Somalia, France took Djibouti whilst the Ogaden was returned to Ethiopia in 1948 after it had previously belonged to Somalia under Italian rule in what was called the Italian East Africa. In the summer of 1960 both the UK and then Italy agreed to grant independence to its territories and thus the two main Somali territories joined to form a united Somali Republic on the 1^st July 1960. My view of this is (of course) bias to me being Somali so I have to point out that Somali people are nomads and that before independence and colonisation, there was never an officially established "Somalia"; only a large area inhabited by various ethnic races at one point or another but where Somali speaking people were always the majority and thus early on became known as Soomaaliya. 

As one of the starting points of independence, the new Somali government supported the right of all the Somali speaking lands to be united under a greater Somalia and thus there were often (and still is) a lot of clashes between the borders of Somalia and Ethiopia and Somalia and Kenya (due to the largely Somali-inhabited northeastern region of Kenya). So already we have a very fragmented national history where the maps created and redefined by external colonial powers drew borders that don’t accurately reflect the different people of the regions and often even the majority of each region and thus end up separating people, politically, who otherwise share the same ethnicity, culture, religion and of course language.

Literature wise, the novel that best highlights the plight of The Ogaden is the brilliant Somali author Nuruddin Farah's highly recommend book Maps. As a work of fiction, it deals more with the more complex psychological consequences of living in such a widely disputed area, being Somali but not quite in Somali soil according to official records etc. This whole ongoing issue has fueled my pre-existing obsession with borders and maps (beyond The Ogaden, Palestine or Tibet) and is one of the big reasons why I'm doing my MA in Post-Colonial studies. There are so many on-going border conflicts in different parts of the world (some unfairly lesser known than others) where simple lines, drawn by men, never regard the every-day reality of who is living there and how it affects them. Ethiopia and Somalia are of course neighbours endlessly fighting over literally a desert area between the two countries, metaphorically a child whose disputing parents end up neglecting and not considering what is best for it, in their fight for full custody. One of the more powerful quotes from Maps is when one of the characters says: "it is easier ridding yourself from a colonist beyond the seas than it is to oust an African one..."

It's important to note however that the Somalis in The Ogaden, although the biggest majority, are not the only ethnic race living in that specific region and so the question is: how do those other minorities (within minorities!) become identified in a map? In order for The Ogaden to re-join Somalia, it has to sacrifice its already established identity as a place not just inhabited by Somali speaking people. However, it also cannot remain in this current state of limbo under the umbrella of the Ethiopian empire that's not exactly doing all that it can and indeed should for the area it has politically claimed for strategic reasons. It's frustrating enough that Somalia doesn't get enough press coverage (unless you're a "pirate" - do you really think that people without aid will just quietly perish after being colonised and war torn?) the same way that other African nations and areas do whilst The Ogaden conflict remains swept under the international media rug.

This is a struggle I feel very strongly about both patriotically and emotionally; my grandmother was born in The Ogaden, in Wardheer, and a few weeks ago I asked her how she feels about it being politically seen as Ethiopia and, (my grandmother who has a habit of answering important questions in Somali proverbs and other sayings) said something that can best be translated as: "your landlord might own your home but he has never lived in it the way you have". Enough said.

For more basic information of the region, start here.

Ethiopia not ready for peace with Eritrea or to leave Somalia

Watching a reply of the interview with the Ethiopian PM, to summarize he's happy with himself; Ethiopia not ready for peace with Eritrea or to leave Somalia. But he's asked some decent questions, I hope the video will be posted online soon.

Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi interviewed on Aljazeera

Aljazeera's Mohamed Adow interviewed Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi, the interview is currently being aired and will be available on youtube soon.

In just two weeks, over 200,000 civilians fled Mogadishu because of Ethiopian troop's bombing of civilian areas and hundreds more were killed. More than a 1 million civilians fled Mogadishu since the Ethiopian invasion.

US strategy in the Horn can only further destablize the region

Ethan has a great post (though couple weeks back) about US involvement in Somalia and the much talked about African Command. Ethan calls it "the third" front for United State's war on terror, and it's. Actually Somalia was about become the "second front" after Afghanistan, the US army was seriously contemplating bombing Somalia but at the time there was nothing to bomb.

One thing I would like to suggest is that Ethiopia's intervention in Somalia wasn't because it was afraid of the Islamic Courts invading them, they were too weak to threaten Ethiopia. But it was Ethiopia's arch-rival Eritrea's support for the Islamic Courts, arming and funding them, that compelled Ethiopia to do something. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bitter war in 1998-2000, and there's now a real concern that the two countries are getting ready to resume the war. And It wasn't the first time the two countries took their war to Somalia either, as early as 1999 each was supporting a group of warlords.

So imagine Ethiopia's position, Eritrea is getting ready for a second round of war and they've an ally in Southern Somalia, it was really a dangerous situation for Ethiopia. But even then Ethiopia wouldn't have entered Somalia without the full support of the United States.

The United Sates, on the other hand, had a narrow objective, to capture some people in Somalia whom they'd intelligence were dangerous; mainly Somalis who fought in places like Afghanistan. US tried to capture these men by paying warlords in Mogadishu - literally coming into Mogadishu with suitcases full of money - the plan was naive and went horribly wrong, it led to the birth of the Islamic Courts.

This is where Ethiopian and American interests met; Ethiopia wants Eritrea out of Somalia and US wants to capture some people. We now know that US wasn't after Islamic Courts leaders - except Sheikh Aways of course - according to Jenday Frazer the Americans give passage to Shiekh Sharif to flee the country.

The United States's narrow focus on capturing few men here and there and bombing sites is pointless, short-sighted and really disappointing. US wasn't interested in the Somali peace conference which resulted in the TFG, but bombing "terrorist" and killing civilians as a result, yes that's a priority. And United States isn't interested in defusing the tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia either, instead it's taking the side of Ethiopia which still refuses to abide by the International Court's ruling. As a resulted it has alienated Eritrea and promoted a proxy war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, now Eritrea is the hub of rebels, terrorists and insurgent from across the horn.

Hussein Aideed subtitled

Aljazeera interviewed Hussein Aideed, yet again, for what? I don't know. He was thrown out of Mogadishu by other warlords before the Islamic Courts came and defeated the rest of the warlord. He came back to Mogadishu on an Ethiopian tank and he now says he's against Ethiopia.

In the interview he says that he's the chairman of a party which has PM Gedi and President Abdullah Yusuf as members, I've no clue of what he's talk about - I doubt anyone does. You also notice that his English is quite poor, Aljazeera has to add subtitles. Aideed spent over a decade in US. I won't say anything of his facial expressions.



There are many decent and articulate individuals who also oppose the Ethiopian presence in Somalia, but Aideed can only hurt the cause.

Eritrea ships weapons into Somalia, the proxy war continues

The United Nations says Eritrea is arming insurgents (the Islamic Courts militias and Al Shabab) to get back at Ethiopia. These weapons have been used to attack not only Ethiopian troops but government officials and civilians. Ethiopia and Eritrea have been fighting a proxy war in Somalia at least for past tens years. So this isn't new, but what's new is that Ethiopia is on the side of a legitimate - be it dysfunctional - Somali government supported by the international community.

Eritrea backed and armed Islamic Courts before the TFG took control of Mogadishu - be it with Ethiopian support - but Ethiopia's assertion of the presence of thousands Eritreans in Mogadishu at the time wasn't true. After the Islamic Courts were defeated they fell fully into the hands of Isaias Afewerki. He hosted the leaders of the Islamic Courts and other disgruntled warlords and politicians to create a 'new front'. That was all a sideshow. Eritrea's main objective is for the Islamic Courts, or anyone else for that matter, to carry out attacks against Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu and to replace the current Somali government with someone loyal to them.

When I met Sheikh Sharif last month in Doha, I asked him about their reliance on Eritrea and what Eritrea wants in return? I must say the question made him uncomfortable. He acknowledged that Eritrea had its objectives but he asserted that nothing was imposed on them. Islamic Courts leaders don't seem to see the irony when they accuse the government of being an Ethiopian puppet.

Photo: from left: Sheikh Sharif of the Islamic Courts, the ousted parliament speaker Sharif Aden and the Hussein Aideed who came into Mogadishu on an Ethiopian tank.

Ethiopian brutality in Ogaden

A recent NYT report sheds light at Ethiopian brutality in Ogaden. Ogaden is the western region of greater Somalia and most of the population, more than 8 million, belong to Ogaden tribe, a branch of Darood tribe. Most Somali tribes also herd their camels across the colonial border between Somalia and Ethiopia. European colonizers, England, Italy and France, decided to cut up Somalia into pieces, of course that had a lot to do with the fact that Somalis are all Muslims. Ethiopia wasn't colonized because it was Christian and was later given as rewarded Ogaden. For more than half a century the people of Ogaden have suffered Ethiopian brutality and a failed Somali state on the other side. In recent years Ethiopian troops increased their brutality of jailing, tortuing and killing young Ogaden men suspected of being ONLF members. Their families have also been punished as well but worst of all is the rape of the rape of women by Ethiopian soldiers.

In village after village, people said they had been brutalized by government troops. They described a widespread and longstanding reign of terror, with Ethiopian soldiers gang-raping women, burning down huts and killing civilians at will. It is the same military that the American government helps train and equip — and provides with prized intelligence.

Anab, a 40-year-old camel herder who was too frightened, like many others, to give her last name, said soldiers took her to a police station, put her in a cell and twisted her nipples with pliers. She said government security forces routinely rounded up young women under the pretext that they were rebel supporters so they could bring them to jail and rape them. “Me, I am old,” she said, “but they raped me, too.”

Asma, 19, who now lives in neighboring Somaliland, said she was stuck in an underground cell for more than six months last year, raped and tortured. “They beat me on the feet and breasts,” she said. She was freed only after her father paid the soldiers ransom, she said, though she did not know how much.

Ambaro, 25, now living in Addis Ababa, said she was gang-raped by five Ethiopian soldiers in January near the town of Fik. She said troops came to her village every night to pluck another young woman. “I’m in pain now, all over my body,” she said. “ I’m worried that I’ll become crazy because of what happened.”

Many Ogaden villagers said that when they tried to bring up abuses with clan chiefs or local authorities, they were told it was better to keep quiet.

Moualin, a rheumy-eyed elder, said Ethiopian troops stormed his village, Sasabene, in January looking for rebels and burned much of it down. “They hit us in the face with the hardest part of their guns,” he said.

The five-pointed star in the Somali flag represents the five parts of greater to Somalia and a call to reunite them (North and South already reunited; Ogaden, Djibouti and north east Kenya). The ONLF has been fighting for years to liberate Ogaden after the Ethiopian government refused to give the region the right to secede

The armed resistance began in 1994, after the Ogaden National Liberation Front, then a political organization, broached the idea of splitting off from Ethiopia. The central government responded by imprisoning Ogadeni leaders, and according to academics and human rights groups, assassinating others. The Ogaden is part of the Somali National Regional State, one of nine ethnic-based states within Ethiopia’s unusual ethnic-based federal system. On paper, all states have the right to secede, if they follow the proper procedures. But it seemed that the government feared that if the Somalis broke away, so too would the Oromos, the Afar and many other ethnic groups pining for a country of their own.

Ethiopian government fears most a strong Somalia next door because they know it will be difficult to hold on to this region. Unfortunately Ethiopian troops are now in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia.

Interview with Melese Zinawe

Two part interview with Ethiopian PM, Meles Zenawi, have been posted on Aljazeera's Yoututbe channel, here and here. The interview, which was in March, came at a time when Ethiopian troops ousted the Islamic Courts and went into Mogadishu and Ethio-Eritrean relations are at their worst.

Of course he gives the same boring official line but I think it's worth seeing what was sold to the Americans so they get interested in Somalia again, and give even more aid to Ethiopia.