From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Sep 20 2009 - 16:52:15 EDT
Inside Somalia
20, 2009 - 3:20:44 PM
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8257000/8257706.stm> SlideShow
By Mike Thomson
The first thing that hit me on landing near the town of Belet Weyne in
Central Somalia, was the lack of any obvious signs of statehood. There were
no immigration or customs officials, no arrivals lounge or baggage hall and
no requests from anybody to see my passport. All I could see were battered
looking pick-up trucks filled with sinister-looking figures bristling with
all kinds of weaponry. Wherever you go in Somalia you are never far from men
with guns.
The trick is to make sure that they are pointing them the right way, that
is, for your protection. Fail to do this and you could quickly find yourself
joining the 18,000 people killed here during the last two years. This is a
country that has lacked an effective national government since 1991 and is
still largely in the hands of warlords, militia groups, bandits and pirates.
Somalia's transitional national government controls little of the land and
might not have survived at all if it had not been for the help of five
thousand African Union peacekeepers plus the support of various militia
groups.
Security is so tenuous that travel by road is kept to a minimum. It is much
safer by air. As a result my visit, arranged with help from the United
Nations' World Food Programme, consisted of frequent bumpy hops in tiny
planes.
When we did take to four wheels, a five-car convoy protected by 30
gun-toting guards was considered necessary. Such protection is not, however,
an option for most of those who live here. In the last two years alone
one-and-a-half million people have been forced to flee their homes. Nearly
300,000 of them have abandoned the Somali capital Mogadishu in the past four
months alone, due to on-going violence.
Escaping the violence
Everywhere I went I found people who had fled the horrors of shelling and
fighting in the capital. Many had been forced to leave most of their
possessions behind. Others told me that they had crammed all they owned into
a car boot, only to be robbed at numerous roadblocks by militia gangs and
bandits. Some were also raped.
I spoke to one woman near Dhuusamereeb who told me she had to leave her six
children behind with relatives. She only had the money to bring out a sickly
orphaned baby who, she told me, would have died if left in the city without
medical help.
Around 5,000 African Union soldiers, known by the acronym, AMISOM, are the
only vestiges of foreign protection left in the city. A 15,000-strong UN
peacekeeping force pulled out of the country in 1995 following disastrous
clashes with local warlords. However, they only control the presidential
palace, harbours and airports.
Various extremist Islamic militia groups, such as Hisbul Islami and
al-Shebab, fight running battles with AU and government forces. Al-Shebab,
which is the more hard-line of the two, is thought to have links with
al-Qaeda. Many of those I talked to accused the organisation of killing and
kidnapping civilians for no given reason and conducting roadside executions.
The Ethiopian Army restored some order when it invaded in late 2006. But,
after struggling to subdue militia attacks, its forces withdrew at the
beginning of this year.
Uncertain future
It is not entirely clear to outsiders what the fighting is really about.
Groups like al-Shebab say they are dedicated to establishing sharia law in
Somalia.
Anarchy rules in most other parts of the capital. Various extremist Islamic
militia groups, such as Hisbul Islami and al-Shebab, fight running battles
with AU and government forces. Al-Shebab, which is the more hard-line of the
two, is thought to have links with al-Qaeda. Many of those I talked to
accused the organisation of killing and kidnapping civilians for no given
reason and conducting roadside executions. The Ethiopian Army restored some
order when it invaded in late 2006. But, after struggling to subdue militia
attacks, its forces withdrew at the beginning of this year.
Uncertain future
It is not entirely clear to outsiders what the fighting is really about.
Groups like al-Shebab say they are dedicated to establishing sharia law in
Somalia.
Anarchy rules in most other parts of the capital. Various extremist Islamic
militia groups, such as Hisbul Islami and al-Shebab, fight running battles
with AU and government forces. Al-Shebab, which is the more hard-line of the
two, is thought to have links with al-Qaeda. Many of those I talked to
accused the organisation of killing and kidnapping civilians for no given
reason and conducting roadside executions. The Ethiopian Army restored some
order when it invaded in late 2006. But, after struggling to subdue militia
attacks, its forces withdrew at the beginning of this year.
Uncertain future
It is not entirely clear to outsiders what the fighting is really about.
Groups like al-Shebab say they are dedicated to establishing sharia law in
Somalia.
Anarchy rules in most other parts of the capital. Yet the country's new
president, Sharif Ahmed, has committed his transitional national government
(TNG) to achieving the same objective, though he is thought to have a more
moderate idea of what that should amount to. When it comes to the hundreds
of pirates who prey on foreign shipping passing through Somali waters, the
objective is clearly money. That, though, is not something most other
Somalis have much of after nearly two decades of bloody conflict. In these
credit-crunch days many in the developed world may feel like turning their
backs on Somalia. Not just because its long-running problems seem so hard to
resolve but also because there are more than enough crises much closer to
home. Yet, ever since the attacks of 11 September 2001, politicians have
been wary of arguments like that. Some are now warning that Somalia may hold
even more threats to the west than Afghanistan, should extremist Islamic
groups be allowed to flourish in this anarchic and largely lawless state.
For the moment, at least, there is little hope on offer for the people of
Somalia. Half the population are now in need of humanitarian aid. Many have
been forced to flee their homes only to arrive in areas hit by drought.
Many of those I spoke to in a dusty and scorched camp near the town of
Abudwaq, close tor the Ethiopian border, said they had survived bombs and
bullets in Mogadishu only to face starvation there. Aid agencies do what
they can to help but few international staff are willing, or allowed, to
work in what the UN describes as the world's most dangerous country. Nearly
300,000 other Somalis have fled over the Kenyan border to camps at Dadaab,
which is now home to more refugees than anywhere else on earth. Some have
been there since 1992. Unable to work or move elsewhere in Kenya,
frustration is growing. One man, who has been in Dadaab since 1992, told me
that most young Somalis who have grown up in the camp are now either drug
addicts, in jail or fighting in Somalia. At the camp for displaced people
near Abudwaq, I saw an elderly woman singing by her tent as dust swirled
around her. I asked what she was singing about. She told me that she was
calling on all Somalia's militia men to lay down their guns and help rebuild
this shattered country. "We prey to God that they will listen to me song for
peace but we have no power to make them. We dare not even talk to them. We
can only hope that, one day, the fighting will stop."
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