http://wardheernews.com/Articles_06/Jan/13_Edna_MMahad.htmlEdna...

http://wardheernews.com/Articles_06/Jan/13_Edna_MMahad.html

Edna Aden Ismail and her terrorist threats against Sool

Mohsin Mahad

January 13, 2006

Marwo Edna Aden Ismail, the foreign minister of the regional administration of Somaliland, has come to acquire notoriety for her serial blunders in the world of foreign affairs in which she still remains a novice. It is amazing that the secessionists who spare no effort to solicit recognition have put all their eggs in her shaky basket. With her at the helm in the key ministry that is supposed to deal with the outside world, she often occupies herself playing to the local gallery and saying outlandish statements that may appeal to the crowd but will do nothing to further their doomed aspiration. Judging by her latest outburst and her usual unbridled demagogy, she is certainly a danger to Somalia and the region.

Edna Aden Ismail - Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs

As reported by WardheerNews, Marwo Edna has given a dire warning against a recent deal between Somalia's Puntland Regional Administration and an Australian company which wishes to prospect for mineral resources in the Puntland regions of Sool. For her and her fellow secessionists who are warped in their world of fantasy and make-believe, these regions are not part of Somalia but belong to their self-styled Somaliland, a region other Somalis and the rest of the world see as the North West region of Somalia.

Ms Edna Ismail was trained in Britain as a nurse and later on joined WHO's regional office in Alexanderia. While no one can question her competence as a nurse, her understading of the Somali culture and heritage, in terms of its clan structurte, as well as her knowledge of other parts of the United Nations and in particular the UN charter and international relations, seem to be no better than that of the ordinary man or woman in the streets of Hargeisa. In claiming Sool and Sanaag, this is what she has said in Somali at a press conference in Hargeisa:

"waxaanu ogaannay in markii taariikhdu ahayd 18/10/2005, ay dawlad goboleedka Majeerteeniya ee waqooyiga Soomaaliya, ay heshiis la gashay shirkad Australian ah oo la yidhaahdo Range Resources Limited. Heshiiskaas oo shirkaddaas ruqsad u siiyay inay ka baadhato macdan iyo Baatrol, meelo ka mid ah Somaliland oo ay ka mid yihiin gobolada Sool iyo Sanaag, sida ku cad khariidada ay Majeerteeniya iska samaysatay.
"
Then she spells out her justification for their claim to Sool and Sanaag:

"Waxaan halkan ku cadaynayaa in Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland ay leedahay xuduud Caalamku aqoonsan yahay oo ku salaysan xuduudihii Isticmaarka ee xadiday xuduudaha dalalka Afrika oo dhan. Waxa kuwaas ka mid ah dalkii uu Talyaanigu gumaysan jiray ee loo yaqaanay 'La Somalia Italiana', iyo dalkii Ingiriisku illaalin jiray ee ahaa 'Somaliland Protectorate. Xuduudahaas oo ka wada diiwaan gashan Xarunta Ururka Qaramada Midoobay (United Nations). Waxa kale oo dhigaya inaan la bedeli Karin xuduudaha dalalka Afrika Sharciga Ururka Dalalka Africa(Organization of African Unity, iyo ka African Union.)" .

Her claim that Somaliland's borders are based on the boundaries inherited from the former colonial powers and that these borders are recognized by the international commuinity, in particular the United Nations, the former Organization for African Unity and its successsor the current African Union, is simply preposterous. Who are those countries among the international community that are supposed to have recognized Somaliland's borders? When did the UN, the OAU or the African Unioin recognize Somaliland's borders as Edna claims? Since all her claims are baseless, Marwo Edna must obviously be indulging in fairy tales. Like the rest of her fellow secessionists, her claims and justifications are typically Orwellian double speak: when the unreal is presented as real and lies as truth. When the Minister speaks like this, she may win plaudits among the mob that are fed all this crude propaganda but such travesty of the facts will not cut much ice with the rest of the world who recognize Puntland as consisting of its various constituent parts including Sool and Sanaag.

Like most other secessionists, Marwo Edna's statement exhibits her obsessive xenophopia towards the Majeerteen and to see their invisible mischievous hands always behind every action freely taken by others. What is conspicuous in her statement is her contemptuous denial of the existence of the clans who inhabit in Sool, Eastern Sanaag and Cayn, namely the Dhulbahnata and Warsangeli. And even if their existence is grudgingly acknowledged at other times, they are seen as either belonging to Somaliland whether they like or not or else as a territory grabbed from Somaliland by the "perfidious" Majeerteen. For her and the secessionists generally, only Majeerteeniya exists but not Puntland. What more effrontery could you have towards us in Sool, Eastern Sanaag and Cayn than the denial of our existence and our mastry of our own destiny and regions? If we were to join the secessionists they would have hailed us as honourable, patriotic Somalilanders. But to join the Majeerteen to form Puntland that is something else. Theirs is typically a perverted logic in which they can claim the right to bond together as clan but would deny the same right to others who also wish to form their own clan-based regional administration as the Puntland Regional Administration entails. As the saying goes, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander and hence what is right for the Isaaq is right for other clans.

Having claimed Sool, Eastern Sanaag and Cayn, Marwo Edna then plunges into the uncharted world of terrorism with a bloodcurdling threat against the Australian company that is the subject of the deal. This is what she has to say:

"Waxaanu digniin culus siinaynaa shirkadaha Shisheeye ee heshiisyada been beenta ah loo saxeexo inaanay xuduuda Somaliland soo geli Karin, waxna ka baadhi Karin, una soo dirsan Karin sahan. Haddii ay yeelaanna aanu ka qaadayno tallaabooyinka ku haboon. Kuwaas oo halis gelin doona xasiloonida iyo degenaanshaha Geeska Afrika, kana lumin doona hanti wixii ay shirkadahaasu dalkayaga sharci darro ku soo geliyeen."

Claiming Sool and invading it was bad enough for those of us from the area but to threaten dire actions against foreign firms as she did is to go over the top: Her threats are clearly tantamount to planned acts of terrorism. Whether such threats are implemented or not is irrelevant. What is important is that it was made. It gives a clear signal to any individual secessionist to engage in acts of terrorism now or in the future believing that he or she has the blessing of their government.

Both the Australain Company, through their government, and the appropriate minister in the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia should report Marwo Edna's terrorist threats to concerned countries of the international community. Her president and his government should also be held equally responsible unless they can publicly distance themselves from her outburst.

Marwo Edna could plunge the region into a disastrous war. That is the last thing we need after 15 years of civil war and suffering in Somalia. Nothing could be better for all concerned than putting her in charge of Hargeisa hospital where her undoubted expertise will be highly appreciated. In the meantime, it behoves us - those of us in Sool ,Sanaag sand Cayn - to speak up for ourselves, loudly and clearly, and state whether we are an appendage of Isaaqland or an independent people who freely chose their destiny in July 1960 to be part and parcel of Somalia for ever and ever.

Mohsin Mahad
E-Mail:[email protected]