In this issue: 
* THE HAWAADLE CLAN FORMS NEW PARTY
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               S O M A L I A  N E W S  U P D A T E   
 
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Vol 3, No 19              July 5, 1994.               ISSN 1103-1999   
 
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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.  
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THE HAWAADLE CLAN FORMS NEW PARTY

(SNU, Uppsala, July 5) - At a press conference in Nairobi on Monday 
the first news about the outcome of the Hawaadle clan's meeting were 
presented by Osman Mohamed Jelle. Jelle -- a former SRC member who 
spent most of the 80's in detention -- attended the congress in Beled 
Weyn but did not run as a candidate for any of the positions in the 
newly formed political party called the United Somali Congress-Peace 
Movement (USC-PM).
     The two-week long meeting which convened in Beled Weyn on June 
10 elected Abdullahi Osoble Siyad -- a lawyer and a former minister 
of Post & Telecommunications -- as the chairman of the USC-PM. The 
military wing of the newly founded party has already been involved in 
the past week's heavy fighting with Aideed's SNA militia in 
Mogadishu. 
     The congress also elected Ahmed Mohamed Weheliye (Ahmed Hiji), 
an economist formerly with the Ministry of Education, as its 
secretary-general. Various working committees on health, education, 
reconstruction and security were established. Following the closure 
of the congress, a new short-wave radio station called CODKA HIRAAN 
(The Voice Of Hiraan) was inaugurated at a site south of Beled Weyn.
     After the congress Beled Weyn was visited by both Ali Mahdi and 
the chairman of the SNF militia Omar Haji Masaleh. The latter was 
born and raised in Beled Weyn.

COMMENTARY:
This latest addition to the plethora of Somali political parties 
signals a consolidation of the Hawaadle clan and the very choice of 
name indicates a support for Ali Mahdi and his "group of twelve". 
However, the Hawaadle, unimpressed by -- and excluded from -- the 
recent rise of "Hiraabism" (i.e. the attempts by clan and subclan 
leaders to orchestrate a cease-fire between the clans descended from 
Hiraab) are also looking after their own interests. As a clan often 
associated with the Hawiye clans, yet having their own independent 
line of descent they know that when it one day comes to distribution 
of ministerial seats, only the big clans with their own parties will 
count in the eyes of the UN. For the moment, both the Hawaadle and 
the other Ali Mahdi allied clans share the common goal of getting rid 
of Aideed's SNA. Last week's extremely heavy fighting also featured 
an alleged assassination attempt on Aideed. The fighting appears to 
have halted following an appeal by elders and youth organizations on 
Sunday, but the Murosadde-Hawaadle-Abgaal axis is stronger than ever 
before. With the increasing support from some branches of the Ayr 
subclan of the Habar Gedir, and with the 19,000 peace keepers hiding 
in their barracks and the US marine ready to evacuate all US citizens 
at the first sign of renewed fighting, the Ali Mahdi loyals are bound 
to attempt to use their might.
 
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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. 
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