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From: Yacob Zecharias (yacobzech@yahoo.co.uk)
Date: Sat Jul 31 2010 - 21:55:26 EDT
Eritrea's stance of talking to Al Shabab has been criticised by some. The bombings in July, sad as they may be, were not the worst atrocities to be carried out in the region in the past few years. The state sponsored terrorism unleashed on the people of Somalia were far greater than those of July 11. Any form of terrorism is reprehensible.Whether you call it 'co-lateral damage', revenge or any other name ,the death of unarmed, innocent civilians is truly abhorrent, and can not be condoned.
True, Al Shabab may have been responsible for such a gruesome deed, however history shows that Organisations or people who had been labelled as terrorist in the past have been welcomed back in the folds of main stream politics and have made positive contributions.
The British had imprisoned most of Africa's anti colonial campaigners on the grounds of having committed atrocities. The likes of Jomo Kenyatta had been classified as terrorists but history, especially African history, will remember Kenyatta as the founding father of modern Africa rather than a terrorist. The great British Parliamentarian, Tony Benn said that when he spoke in defence of Nelson Mandela at Trafalgar square in 1964, he was denounced by the British press for supporting a terrorist. Yet in 1994 the former 'terrorist' was given the Nobel Peace Prize and became South Africa's President. Israel's first Prime Minster, Ben Gurion, was a man who was responsible for numerous bombings and was a wanted man by the British.
Israel realised that in order to achieve peace, it had to sit down and talk with its sworn enemy, the PLO and Yasser Arafat. The British government in the 1990's came to the conclusion that it had to talk with the Irish Republicans in order to achieve peace in Northern Ireland. Gerry Adams the leader of the political wing of the IRA, a man whose voice had been banned from being broadcast in the UK, a man who was responsible for the death and maiming of many, is now part of the government of Northern Ireland and even won a seat in the British Parliament.
So, sooner or later the International community will have to constructively engage with Al Shabab,for the sake of the long suffering people of Somalia, lets hope that its sooner than later.
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