PRESS RELASE

A second Message to UNSRSG Nicholas Kay

Abdirahman Faroole, president of Puntland, has launched on Thursday, 28 November 2013, a concerted naked attack on KhaatumoState’s provisional capital, Taleex, in Sool region. His forces comprise those trained by the USA to combat terrorism, and those trained by a security agency called Saracen to counter piracy. The aim of course was to occupy Taleex in order to thwart the holding of the third conference of KhaatumoState at the famous fort which is tasked to elect a new president and select new members of Parliament.

Faroole’s misguided calculations as usual is  to scuttled Khaatumo in the hope that he can bring the SSC regions under his hegemony with the help of  treacherous collaborators hailing from the area, and then handpick what he would ludicrously present as the regions’ representatives to Puntland’s forthcoming parliamentary elections. His calculation is that these “ill-gotten” MPs would ensure his re-election as they did before. This is typically what he sees as a good gamble from his perspective in which the SSC regions are nothing more than pawns in his political chess game. It worked for him in the past but this time he is pushing his luck too far.

Too often in the past, Puntland’s Abdirahman Faroole has acted as a law unto himself, routinely undermining KhaatumoState of Somalia and colluding with its other predatory enemy, Somaliland. What is different this time is the scale and the brazen nature of his flagrant aggression. It is as if another foreign country had invaded Somalia and its SSC regions. Of course, Somaliland did the same thing in October 2007 when it occupied the regional capital Lascanod and still stays put until it is thrown out. But then Somaliland, unlike Puntland, considers itself an independent country separate from Somalia for whom the acquisition of the SSC regions, by foul or fair means, is indispensable for its blinkered aspirations.

The question that comes to mind this time is what made Mr Froole to embark on this crazy reckless warpath in flagrant violation of  the inalienable rights of the people of KhaatumoState of Somalia to assemble and establish their own regional administrational, a right enshrined both in the UN Charter and in Somalia’s constitution? Ironically, what led him astray, as if he needed one, is no other than the very guardian of the UN Charter, its mandate and its mission in Somalia, namely Mr Nicholas Kay, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations (SRSG).

As we recall, Mr Kay was in Garowe the other day, when he called for women parliamentary representatives from Puntland’s “five original regions”, clearly asserting that the SSC regions are part of Puntland and by implication KhaatumoState does not exist.  Such unsolicited gift from the SRSG was music to the ears of Faroole and of course a clear signal to him that he can do what he wants with “his SSC regions”. That is what he did now.

Rather than foster peace, unity and stability in Somalia as his mandate clearly demands, the SRSG chose instead to pour oil on fire. As it is, Puntland’s invading forces had killed scores of innocent civilians in Taleex. Many have run away for their lives and sought refuge in the bush. But this is not going to be a picnic for Puntland’s tinpot leader. Just as they face Somaliland on one front, the people of KhaatumoState would also redouble their efforts to oust the other no less egregious enemy from their territory. In the meantime, they would like to send several messages as they face Faroole’s aggression against their State:

The first message is to the traditional leaders and political elite of Puntland. They should know that Faroole is playing with fire and, unless stopped, the flames he is fanning in Sool would spread and engulf us all. Too often in the past, you have refrained from taking a stand against his reckless actions against KhaatumoState. One can only conclude that you shared his objective of forcing the SSC regions under Puntland’s hegemony for otherwise you would have spoken out. This time, though, silence is no option for the stakes are too high. Faroole is poisoning the brotherly relations between our regions and peoples and the toxic heritage he leaves behind will hang over us for many years to come -long after he departed from the political stage. It is time therefore for you to prevail over this dangerous man and get him off our back and from our territory – now. If not, we will do it ourselves with all the detrimental consequences it entails for all of us.

The second message is to the SRSG. Needless to say, we hold him responsible for sowing the seeds of Faroole’s criminal actions in Sool. The least the SRSG can do is to condemn this aggression and undo the damage he did recently when he rode roughshod over the inalienable rights of the SSC people for self-determination and to have their own regional administration. All he is being asked to do is nor more than what the Somali Constitution provides for, and what the previous transitional government of Somalia had endorsed.

The third message is to the President and also the Prime Minister of Somalia. Granted that you have some problems between you, all of your own making. But you still have responsibility to the country and the least you can do is to condemn Faroole’s aggression against a part of Somalia that is under your purview.

The fourth message is to those traitors hailing from the SSC regions who are serving Faroole’s crimes against their people in exchange for despicable handouts. Some of you are beyond redemption but others can still come to their senses even at this eleventh hour and throw their lot with their own people.  Remember Faroole will go sooner rather than later. But Khaatumo is here to stay and what you and your master is doing would only galvanise its over-one million people to became all the more determined and united to defend their dignity and preserve what all other regions and peoples of Somalia have now come to take for granted- having their own States. Who is Faroole to deny them that right, and woe betide you for doing his bidding.

Khatumo Forum for Peace, Unity and Development

Email: info @khaatumoform.org