Date: Fri, 1 Apr 1994 12:24:39 +0200 From: Bernhard Helander To: pauls@css.itd.umich.edu Subject: Somalia News Update, No 10 In this issue: * NEW LIGHT ON THE JUNE 5 INCIDENT? * HARGEYSA AIRPORT DISTURBANCE * MUDDLED ALLIANCES ____________________________________________________________________ S O M A L I A N E W S U P D A T E ____________________________________________________________________ Vol 3, No 10 April 1, 1994. ISSN 1103-1999 ____________________________________________________________________ Somalia News Update is published irregularly via electronic mail and fax. Questions can be directed to Bernhard.Helander@antro.uu.se or to fax number +46-18-151160. All SNU marked material is free to quote as long as the source is clearly stated. ____________________________________________________________________ NEW LIGHT ON THE JUNE 5 INCIDENT? (SNU, Uppsala, March 30) - According to a telegram from the German news agency DPA, the United Nations is refusing to release an independent investigation highly critical of UN activities in Somalia and is forcing Security Council ambassadors to an office at the top of UN headquarters to read the secret report, diplomats revealed Tuesday night. Pakistani sources told DPA's Joe Lauria that the report is highly critical of the UN administration, but particularly of the United States and Pakistan for the way it carried out a raid on a radio station of clan leader Mohammed Farah Aideed on June 5, 1993. Nearly a hundred Somalis and 29 Pakistani peace-keepers lost their lives in that operation. The UN has officially maintained that it was conducting a routine weapons inspection inside the radio compound when Aideed's followers opened fire on the Pakistanis. The incident sparked a six- month, failed manhunt for Aideed, during which hundreds more Somalis perished and about 80 additional UN peace-keepers were killed. Recent reports have pointed to the role played by a high UNSOM official, April Glaspie, in the events preceeding the June 5 tragedy. She is said to have ordered the inspection despite the advice against it by several other UNOSOM officials and despite the warning by a SNA commander that the inspection would be interpreted as an attack on the nearby radiostation. After the June 5 incident, the UN paid Professor Thomas Farer of the American University an undisclosed sum to conduct an investigation. His report named Aideed as responsible for the massacre of the Pakistani peace-keepers. But in an interview with DPA, Farer said that Aideed could probably win his case in court because the UN had made major public relations blunders with Aideed, giving him enough evidence to claim a conspiracy against him. Farer's report, that appeared in August last year - , has seen much criticism not least becuase or the restrictions on his movements in Mogadishu that Admiral Howe imposed. According to John Drysdale's recent book "Whatever happened to Somalia?", Farer did not consult with a single Somali before writing his report. When the United States announced its withdrawal it requested an independent commision to look into the June 5 incident. The request was first forwarded on 8 October in a security council meeting and later repeated by a number of heads of state, including Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi and Ethiopian president Meles Zenawi. On 24 November the UN secretary-general eventually appointed a Commission of Inquiry authorized by the security council resolution 885. The members of the commission were Matthew S.W. Ngulube, the Chief Justice of Zambia, who has served as Chairman; retired General Emmanuel Erskine of Ghana, and General Gustave Hagglund of Finland who was recently appointed as commander of Finland's armed forces. Their report was completed last month, but remained three weeks in Secretary-General Butros Ghali's office before being given to this month's Security Council president, Ambassador Jean-Bernard Merimee of France, last week. Merimee described the report as "sensitive" and "critical" but refused further comment. Hel told journalists that he "would prefer other members of the Council read it before the press, then they will make a decision on a follow-up". According to a rumour cited by DPA, the 260-page report recommends the UN pay compensation to the families of those Somalis killed by UN actions. Security Council Ambassador Roble Olhaye of Djibouti, a country neighbouring Somalia, told reporters it was the first time Council members were not given a UN report, but were required to go to a special room to read it. "You have to go up to the 37th floor and probably sit down there for twelve hours - I'm not going to do that", Olhaye remarked. "I'm going to read your papers", he joked to reporters. Olhaye said: "There's only one copy there and I think it will be cleaned up a bit", adding he would send one of his deputies to read it. "This is a document which may be very critical on a number of countries and on the UN itself", Olhaye said. Merimee said a shorter summary has been prepared by the UN, not by the outside investigators. But this has fueled speculation that the summary, which is more likely to be released, would leave out the most embarrassing details. HARGEYSA AIRPORT DISTURBANCE (SNU, Hargeysa, March 29) - An aircraft on hire to the UNHCR which was about to land at the Hargeysa Airport this morning, came under fire from a mobile anti-aircraft gun operated by a small band of hooligans. The aircraft was hit but was able to return to Djibouti. According to a press release from the Somaliland Presidency, the three cultprits are presently being hunted by the newly formed clan- integrated police field force to bring them to justice and to confiscate their weapons. This force was last week able to bring former military baracks under government control after being fired at by those illegaly occupying the premises. In its press release the Somaliland Presidency says that the isolated incident at the airport serves to underline the urgency in the government's appeals to the international community to support the continued voluntary disarmament and demobilization of former militias. A new airport for the Hargeysa area which has been under construction for some time 17 miles West of Hargeysa in Abaarso, is due to be opened for internationl traffic within a week. MUDDLED ALLIANCES (SNU/VOA, Uppsala/Nairobi, April 1) - There are indications that last week's Somali reconciliation accord, hailed by UN officials as a breakthrough, may already be in serious trouble. Less than a week ago rival Somali faction leaders shook hands, embraced, cheered and joined in singing their national anthem after the signing of the reconciliation pact. Cameras captured the smiles, microphones recorded the laughter. Pleased UN officials who helped broker the deal sounded self-congratulatory notes, while upbeat foreign diplomats spoke optimistically about a new political direction in Somalia. But critics, including many of the same Somalis who took part in the negotiations that led to the accord, now suggest the whole ceremony was largely a sham. They say the agreement, worked out after a UN threat to stop paying the Somali delegates expenses in Nairobi, is essentially an empty document -- one that simply puts off crucial decisions about the country's future until later. Still, there is a measure of hope. Somalis from across the factional spectrum at least seem to agree that they want peace and a government of their own. They say any more fighting would be sheer madness. But they also appear to agree that there are limits to just how much time is available to forge a final political settlement. They believe prolonged delays could trigger a new round of bloodshed. Perhaps the most critical provision of the accord sets April 15th as the date for a follow-up conference of faction representatives in Mogadishu. The purpose of that gathering is to establish procedural ground rules for a planned national conference in may -- one at which delegates will elect a president, a number of vice presidents and a prime minister to give Somalia its first functioning government in more than three years. But sources close to the negotiations, speaking to VOA on condition of anonymity, say the April preliminary meeting may already be in jeopardy. One of the key participants, north Mogadishu faction leader Ali Mahdi Mohammed, has already returned to the Somali capital to prepare for the meeting along with many of his key aides and allies. But his archrival, Mohammed Farah Aideed, still remains in Nairobi, his main base of operations for the last four months except for brief forays to other nearby capitals. SNU has learned that, unlike the particpants in last week's meeting whose hotel bills were footed by the UN, Aideed's stay in Nairboi has been paid for by the US Department of State. Sources familiar with discussions between the rival groups in Nairobi say these private talks left them with the clear impression the General's Somali National Alliance group may not want the meeting held in the Somali capital at all and may instead prefer the talks continue in Kenya. Even if Aideed loyalists agree to meet in Mogadishu, these sources say preparatory work for the April 15th gathering is likely to be hampered by the Aideed's continued stay in Nairobi while Mr. Ali Mahdi is already back in the Somali capital. One Somali source told VOA that the meeting is to begin in just a little over two weeks time. That is not a lot of time to get ready, he says, adding, "we need to get to work right away". The sources say it was proposed that the various factions establish a technical committee to prepare for the April 15th meeting. Mr. Ali Mahdi's side is understood to have named representatives for the panel. Aideed's side has not yet responded to the idea. There are a number of independent signs that the Somali National Alliance is beginning to crack. Within Aideed's own USC-movement based within his own Habar Gedir clan, a rift has been developing between him and his former chief financer, Osman "Ato". Ato, who comes the Habar Gedir sub-clan (Saad) but from another lineage (Reer Hiloowle) is one of the few of the Habar Gedir clan with personal larg-scale business interests in Kismayo. UNOSOM officials have described him as a pragmatic seeker of political solutions while Aideed himself and many of the other military men within his lineage, the Reer Jalaf, are said to represent the hard-line politrucs of the USC. The wealty Habar Gedir commerciant Abdulqadir Tahalil Warsaame of the Saad's Reer Ayaanle lineage arrived from Canada in Nairobi four months ago (about the same time as Aideed came from Addis Ababa) and he and his relative Abdulqadir Silfo are said to have become more and more important as a close allies to Aideed. However, top aides to Aideed dismiss any suggestions that there is reason for concern. They say the Aideed intends to return to Mogadishu before April 15th. They also insist the conference scheduled then will go ahead as planned. But these advisors will not say exactly when Aideed will go home, and they offer no explanation for his continued stay in Nairobi. They also offer no explanations of how preparations for the April 15th meeting will be carried out successfully with the two main players sitting in different capitals. One day after UN officials and Somali delegates in Nairobi unveiled a peace plan for the troubled southern Somali port of Kismayu and the surrounding Lower Jubba area, a key militia leader called into question the legitimacy of that reconciliation process. Colonel Omar Jess and another major faction leader in the south are holding out the prospect of a more lasting settlement to the region's problems. The peace plan unveiled Monday called for an immediate cease-fire and a reconciliation conference to begin April eighth in Kismayu. Colonel Omar Jess, whose militia fought repeatedly to control the port, did not sign the accord or participate in the ceremony. On Tuesday, at a Nairobi news conference, Colonel Jess told reporters he believes next week is too soon to hold an effective peace conference. He says he will not consider attending that proposed gathering. However, Colonel Jess, who has been an ally of powerful Mogadishu faction leader Mohammed Farah Aideed, did announce his support for a cease-fire and backing for a reconciliation process. And during a joint appearance with his one-time rival for control of the Kismayu-based faction called the Somali Patriotic Movement or SPM, he announced they intend to work for reunification of the faction as well as peace in southern Somalia. To that end, Colonel Jess and his former rival, General Adan Abdullahi Noor, disclosed plans to make a joint tour of the region and to set up a mechanism to formally unify their rival groups. General Noor, who is also known by the name Gabiyow, has pledged his support for Monday's Kismayu peace initiative. But he and Colonel Jess suggested the reunification of their faction is an essential prerequisite for a lasting reconciliation in the south. Jess's and Gabiow's branches of the SPM recruit their principal support from the Awlihaan and Mohammed Zubeir lineages of the Ogadeen clan in the area. Gabiow told reporters the SPM reunification process had the backing of his ally, Mohammed Siad Hersi Morgan, the other main militia leader in the Kismayu area. The decision by Colonel Jess to work with his former rivals reflects a shift in the political tides in Somalia. Faction leaders who were once bitter enemies are now jockeying for power and position in preparation for the formation of the country's first government in more than three years. In the process, Aideed has begun to move away from Colonel Jess, who is said to no longer enjoy the kind of special relationship he developed with the Mogadishu faction leader during Somalia's civil war when the two joined forces out of military necessity. ____________________________________________________________________ SNU is an entirely independent newsletter devoted to critical analysis of the political and humanitarian developments in Somalia and Somaliland. SNU is edited and published by Dr. Bernhard Helander, Uppsala University, Sweden. SNU is produced with support from the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden. ____________________________________________________________________