DEAD MEN DON’T TALK

Dead men cannot talk or defend themselves, so the late President of Somalia cannot respond to the contents of the article. To clarify, President Abdullahi Yusuf had strained political and diplomatic relations with the leaders of Ethiopia, particularly with Foreign Minister Atto Seyoum Mesfin from 2000-2008. They disagreed on several issues, including the Arta Somali National Conference of 2000 in Djibouti and the Puntland destabilization instigated by Ismail Omar Gheelle and the Abdulqassim Government. Minister Mesfin was unhappy with the election of TFG President Abdullahi Yusuf and used his policy disagreements with Yusuf to turn the rest of the Ethiopian leadership against him.

Despite the animosity between the two men, proponents of Ethiopian foreign policy on Somalia believed that a leader from the Darood clan could not effectively pacify the Hawiye sub-clan system in Mogadishu. This is evident in the CRDP DIGEST article on Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s re-election campaign with full Ethiopian support. They were disappointed to see President Farmaajo elected overwhelmingly in Mogadishu.

Ethiopian subversion against Abdullahi Yusuf had reached a point of no return. They had mobilized IGAD, which is synonymous with Ethiopian foreign policy, to seek support from the USA and the European Union in isolating and eventually compelling Abdullahi Yusuf to resign. Abdullahi Yusuf chose to resign honorably on his own terms.

The author of the article, “Mr. President: End the Wild Goose Chase,” Abdirashid Hashi, published in Puntlandi.com, should be asked to explain the behaviors and activities of Ethiopian military and diplomatic officers in Mogadishu that undermined the President and TFG, resulting in the expulsion of Ethiopian Ambassador Ato Shawal and Col. Gabre by Abdullahi Yusuf. These Ethiopian personnel of the occupation forces in Mogadishu were not only corrupt but also made deals with all elements of Mogadishu’s destabilization, including anti-government merchants and sympathizers of Al-Shabab. This Ethiopian policy caused divisions within TFG leadership, particularly Prime Minister Nur Cadde and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Abdisalam.

With the assistance of Ethiopian influence, European Union diplomats convinced US diplomats to engage in talks with the so-called “Islamist Moderates” of the Union of Islamic Courts, rather than its “hardliners”.

Enter Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Like Ethiopia, the US government and its diplomatic corps never truly understood Somalia beyond hearing about its territorial disputes with its neighbors. If history is any guide, the USA would prefer the policy option of Somalia becoming Ethiopia’s client state in the Horn of Africa. However, Ethiopian foreign policy failures and humiliating military defeats at the hands of Al-Shabab militants led to the removal of the entire Ethiopian Policy Team and Military Command in Somalia. Foreign Minister Mesfin, second-in-command of TPLF after Melez Zenawi, and his advisor Dr. Tekade Allemu were assigned as Ethiopian Ambassadors to China and the UN, respectively. The remnants of the occupation forces were forced to retreat from Somalia due to the military setbacks they experienced in Mogadishu. The current Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, was a member of that expansionist regime, responsible for the Ethiopian security sector. Read Hashi’s article here: https://www.puntlandi.com/?p=21405

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