Bartamaha (Nairobi):-The article below is a response by Omar Jamal, the first secretary of the Somali mission to the UN, to an article by Abukar Arman, the Somali special envoy to the US,published on the Al Jazeera English website.

Abukar Arman, the Somali special envoy to the US, alleges that the 15th Extraordinary Session of the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Assembly of Heads of State and Government held this month in Ethiopia was a plot against Somalia.
What is conspicuously absent from his article, however, is the passionate plea from the man who appointed him: Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the Somali president. The president attended the session and made his plea to the entire region.
He distinctly affirmed that without help, the Somali government might not be able to hold off the advance of Islamist groups on the capital.

What is at stake here is the survival of the Somali government, which is now besieged by Islamists and war profiteers in Mogadishu. Arman seems to ignore the fact that the only alternative to seeking assistance from IGAD and the African Union is to let al-Shabab and its likes drag an already impoverished Somali people into more agony and suffering.
The article further undermines the recent agreement between the Somali government and Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah by calling it a tool, micromanaged by the Ethiopian government.
In addition to that, Arman questions the character and judgment of the recent ministerial appointees approved by the Somali president. Is he the only appointee we should all trust?
A new era.

It is about time that we Somalis collectively take full responsibility for what happens in our country. We need to face facts and not attempt to shift blame for our troubles to Ethiopia or for that matter any other entities. We should all acknowledge the fact that Ethiopia has a vested interest in the region, as does Kenya and Djibouti.

How each of these states and a handful of other countries exercise and pursue their interests is their own prerogative. Ethiopia is, in fact, the home of the largest Somali refugee population in the region. It has treated them with hospitality and friendship.

It is about time we stop this long-held enmity against neighbouring countries and start a new era of cooperation and peaceful co-existence.

Recent history has shown that Somali people have failed to disarm and sincerely seek internal peace without support from the outside. Instead Somalia is embroiled in petty differences and barbarism rooted in clan mentality.

Chills run up my spine when I read the words of the Somali envoy to US. Such fractious behaviour is tantamount to an insidious and insubordinate act against the policy of the same president who appointed him. This behaviour is illustrative of the complete erosion of any sense of decency. This use of contemptuous words against the policy of the Somali government and the recent step to make the government inclusive by reaching an agreement with Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah is a breach of diplomatic code.
The first and most important task for the president is to use the power vested in him by the constitution to restore good governance and the rule of law. In the future, I would recommend that the envoy voice his differences through an appropriate channel rather than in the market of public opinion.

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Source:-aljazeera.

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