Puntland Federal Member State and Villa Somalia continue to be loggerheaded over ongoing Somalia’s political paralysis. The political and constitutional crisis is exacerbated by unilateral political and constitutional decisions, and lately, the mapping of natural resources and hydrocarbon explorations on the part of the federal government with the assistance of foreign powers, lately Turkey.

Noticeably, the Puntland Government lacks proactive policies and think-tank capacity, political consultancy, and research facilities. That is why one would expect only its reactive approach to FGS constitutional and political shenanigans.

Here is the latest media salvo from the Puntland Government.

On October 15, the book titled ‘War’ was released and immediately became one of the best-selling books. It was written by Bob Woodward, a journalist specializing in investigative reporting on secret information. This book narrates shocking and surprising conversations and advice given by some Arab leaders when they privately met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken a few days after the attack X@m@s launched on Israel.

On Thursday, October 13, 2023, the plane carrying U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. He immediately headed to the special room where the war operations were being directed, where Benjamin Netanyahu and the war command officers were present.

The Secretary and Netanyahu exchanged brief words. “What do you need from us?” “We need ammunition, ammunition, ammunition.” “We stand with you at all times and in all places.” “What will you do about the civilians living in Gaza?” Netanyahu responded, “We will evacuate all of Gaza; we will push them into Egypt.” Blinken, in shock, said, “I will speak with the Arab leaders and get back to you!”

Antony Blinken did not sleep in Tel Aviv that night; instead, he flew to Jordan on the same Thursday, where he met with King Abdullah II of Jordan. The Jordanian King told the U.S. Secretary of State, “We have warned Israel many times about the danger of X@m@s; this group belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood. Israel must destroy this group, but I cannot publicly say this.”

Hours later, Blinken flew to Doha, Qatar, where he had a private meeting with the country’s Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. The Emir told the Secretary, “We have no information about the October 7 attack from the X@m@s leaders in Doha; it is likely only Sǐnŵ@r planned it.” Blinken, suspicious, told the Emir, “We will consider keeping the door open for negotiation, especially if it involves a prisoner exchange, but after that, the X@m@s leadership and its political office will no longer stay here in Doha.”

Just hours later, Antony Blinken flew again to Bahrain, where he met with the leaders of that country, and they gave him a response similar to that of the Jordanian King. Blinken and his exhausted delegation then headed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was the fourth country they visited. On the morning of October 14, the U.S. Secretary of State met with his counterpart, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

Prince Faisal told Blinken, “Israel should never forgive X@m@s; this group is part of the Muslim Brotherhood. We have warned Israel many times about their danger. These terrorist groups are not only trying to destroy Israel but also to overthrow Arab leaders. We are very concerned about the potential outcome of Israel’s war on Gaza, as we fear for our security. The most troubling issue is who will replace X@m@s? Daesh came after Al-Qaeda, and they were far more dangerous.”

Antony Blinken asked Prince Faisal, “Will you participate in rebuilding Gaza after the war?” The Saudi Foreign Minister replied, “We will not contribute even $1 to repair the destruction Netanyahu caused!” After this, the U.S. Secretary of State flew to Abu Dhabi to meet with Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Mohammed Bin Zayed told Blinken that Israel should not stop the war until X@m@s is eradicated.

Bin Zayed also told Blinken, “We have warned Israel about this Muslim Brotherhood group many times. We can give Israel time to finish off this group, provided they allow us to send humanitarian aid to Gaza and take firm control over the violence that may erupt from the West Bank residents.”

That same day, Blinken returned to Riyadh to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The book’s author, Bob Woodward, notes that “Antony Blinken views Mohammed Bin Salman as an overly arrogant young man.” When they sat down together that evening, Bin Salman told Blinken, “I only want the aftermath and the consequences of October 7 to disappear.” Blinken asked, “How do you see the issue of normalization: establishing direct relations with Israel?” Bin Salman replied, “We are still working on that and are ready, but at this time, we cannot take any steps in that direction until the situation in Gaza settles.”

After this, the U.S. Secretary of State flew to Cairo to meet with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The book’s author states, “Sisi discussed two key points with Blinken: first, the preservation of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, and second, an assurance from the U.S. that the Palestinians would not be relocated to Egyptian land.”

Following this, Secretary Blinken and his delegation met with Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, and Abbas Kamel, the head of Egypt’s intelligence service. The Egyptian intelligence chief presented Blinken and his team with maps and intelligence Egypt had gathered regarding the underground tunnels of X@m@s in Gaza. Abbas Kamel said, “X@m@s is deeply rooted in Gaza, and it will be difficult for Israel to defeat them.”

The Egyptian intelligence chief also asked the U.S. Secretary of State to convey a message to Netanyahu: “The Israeli army should not enter Gaza all at once but should do so gradually. They should also wait for the X@m@s leaders to emerge from their tunnels and then decapitate them all at once.” The author writes that Blinken and his team realized that Abbas Kamel was not joking, and they delivered this message and the tunnel maps to Netanyahu.

Finally, the U.S. Secretary of State’s plane returned to Tel Aviv, where he briefed Netanyahu on what he had gathered from the Arab leaders. He told Netanyahu, “I met with your friends and others who are neither your friends nor your enemies. The common theme I heard repeatedly is that they support what you are doing, but they cannot publicly say so because they fear public anger and uprisings.”

The book, which has been widely sold around the world, mentions that during the recent global climate summit, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with several Arab leaders who told her they were feeling internal pressure and protests from their populations, growing stronger the longer the war in Gaza continues. Therefore, Israel must end X@m@s as quickly as possible.

According to the book, Kamala Harris prepared a report on these meetings with Arab leaders and sent it to President Biden. In the report, she said, “I saw that Arab leaders deeply despise X@m@s and are also ready to establish closer relations with Israel. However, they can not openly state this because they fear internal uprisings.”

Take a listen.