Dr Mohamed Abbas Omar

When I received the heartbreaking news about the death of Somalia’s longest-serving diplomat Ambassador Abdullahi Hassan on November 21, 2015 in Cairo, I had nothing to say but to console myself with a verse from the Qur’an which we refer to in times of grief and sorrow in order to get solace: “To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return” (Qur’an 2:156).

A call I received from the Consul-General of Somalia to Australia Hon. Yonis Yasin Hashi broke the sad news to me, and I am still encountering the difficulty to find words with which to express a sorrow so deep: for Ambassador Abdullahi Hassan was precious to me and to many Somalis and his death is devastating to contemplate. The sad news about Mr. Hassan’s demise was received as mind-shattering news by everyone who has known him. Many Somalis from all walks of life took to the social media to express their sorrow, many of whom who were not born yet when he was appointed as an ambassador in 1987.

We last met in May 2014 in Garowe, the capital city of Puntland State of Somalia, both of us having attended the inauguration ceremony of King Burhan Musse, the traditional leader of Somalia’s Daarood clan, which was also attended by Puntland President Dr Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas and three former Somali prime ministers.

Apart from being a veteran diplomat, Mr Hasan was a towering man of letters, a great scholar, particularly when it comes to the history of the Somali-speaking population in East Africa. He has written a number of books on other subjects, but he still had a lot of unwritten knowledge at the back of his mind.

While we were staying at the same hotel in Garowe, I asked his permission if I can put the oral knowledge into a book and he accepted my request. That was almost eighteen months ago. At the time, I was very much convinced that we would meet again, perhaps in Cairo, Garowe or in Kismaayo to continue this project, but unfortunately little did we factor death into our calculations.
Long well known in diplomatic and political circles in the Arab world and Africa, the veteran diplomat was the chief architect of Somalia’s diplomatic relations with Egypt, and more broadly with the Arabic-speaking world. But what made the late Ambassador Abdullahi Hassan special within the diplomatic circles in the Arab world were his profoundly human qualities: his deep knowledge of the political and governmental system in the Arab world.

In moments of great tension and pressure in diplomatic circles within the Arab League, one could always rely on the late veteran diplomat. He has always been cool and acute in his perceptions and analysis. As a result, Ambassador Hassan has chaired the Arab League foreign ministers summit in Cairo in 2000 amid a great political tension within the league.

Mr. Hassan had wealth of academic and administration experiences under his belt. He graduated from the faculty of Darul-Ulum, Univeristy of Cairo with Licentiate in Arabic Language and Literature. He was well-versed in the Arabic language and has written many books and composed poetry in the classical Arabic language.

As Somalia’s most veteran diplomat, Ambassador Abdullahi Hassan was the driving engine and the towering figure who played a key role in strengthening the diplomatic relations between Somalia and the Arab world. As Somalia’s ambassador to Egypt and also the country’s permanent representative in the Arab League for a quarter century, he carried out his diplomatic duties profoundly and professionally and won the hearts and minds of many. He was unanimously elected to become the chairman of Arab and African ambassadors in Cairo, making him the first Somali ambassador to hold this position.

I grieve his demise in the knowledge that he also meant a lot to many people who have known him. I mourn his death in the conviction that we have lost a very valuable person: a great intellectual, a humble and endearing politician, and above all: a veteran diplomat and a true giant of Somalia’s foreign policy.

Nothing can console his family in this terrible moment of desolation and loss, but when they become known that the whole nation is mourning for him, I can only hope that this will make them feel proud of a man who I and so many others consider an honest person who has touched so many lives and was loved by everyone who has known him.

He spent almost half of his life serving his country in the diplomatic front. His life was so full and filled with his desire to serve the Somali nation. And despite his old age (72 years old) and declining years, he was still an energetic person to the end.

Unlike many other untrained, unqualified Somali ambassadors who emerged after the civil war, the veteran diplomat was a walking archive: an intellectual man with a great deal of foresight who did not believe in tribal allegiances but fully committed to putting Somalia’s national interest above anything else.

With the passing of such a veteran diplomat, Somalia has lost the chief architect of its foreign policy in the Arab world, a worthy person we can all feel proud of and celebrate as a commendable example of a Somali we hope there were more like him.
I am extending my heartfelt condolences to his family and pray Allah the Almighty to grant them patience in this time of grief and sorrow.

Ambassador Abdullahi Hassan had been a living example of best Somali ambassadors from the old generation before the civil war. He was the nation’s longest-serving diplomat, and it is not going to be easy to get someone to fill his shoes.

Dr Mohamed Abbas Omar
State Minister for Presidency and International Cooperation
Puntland State of Somalia
Somalia
Email: Kismaayo91@hotmail.com