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Mogadishu residents suffered all kinds of brutalities from different groups in the past decade or so, including the hated occupation army from Ethiopia, but they never thought they will suffer under their own ‘men of religion’. The short period Mogadishu was under the reign of the Islamic Courts of Union (ICU) has perhaps given these war-ravaged citizens the false hope that they will be safe under the protection of ‘men of religion’. Since all past players in the Somali civil war have left the capital, the stage was set for these so-called Sheikhs to bring peace and sanity to the people under their control. Now, the residents must be lamenting they day the supported ICUs. They must also be wondering what happened to their great city and their great religion. If you take a moment and listen to these so-called religious groups on radio Horn Afrik airwaves and other local media, you will be amazed how arrogant these lots are. Their catchphrase is that they want to rid Somalia from foreign occupation, but the foreign occupation they referring to are the few thousand men of African peacekeepers (AMISOM) whose military operations are limited to protecting the few remaining government buildings as well as escorting government ministers and the large contingent of legislators currently living in Mogadishu. The foreign occupation has ended with the departure of Ethiopian army from Southern Somalia. They second utterance they often make on the airwaves is that they want to see Islamic law (Sharia) introduced to Somalia, similar to the Taliban government in Afghanistan before eleven September. They have even given the government a deadline on this, ninety days to be precise. A similar deadline was given to the government to send Ugandan and Rwandan contingent home. All their demands have almost been met or about to be met by the current government. They were even promised posts in the government. Still, they want more. What more they want? As Sheikh Sharif and others have rightly said and reiterated more than once, the problem of Somalia is not about a religion as there are no other religions practiced in the country. It is not about saving Somali people from being evangelized by the West in their thousands. It is not about Somalis divided along Sunnis and Shia lines. Even in adversity, we know Somalis are true to their religion. It is not about Mogadishu being invaded by people from far away regions such as Puntland, Somaliland, juba land, etc. as those people had already been chased away from Mogadishu and their properties confiscated a decade or so ago. We all know that Mogadishu is at the mercy of one tribe and one tribe only: Hawiye. So, perhaps we need to call what is happening in Mogadishu from now on wards the ‘Hawiye civil war’ rather than Somali civil war. The constant bombardment by ‘Hawiye men of religion’ on Mogadishu civilians with artillery and other heavy guns is really terrifying, especially when the culprits are the last people you would expect to commit such an atrocity. The latest clashes in Mogadishu between Hisbal-ul-Islami and Shabaab on side and ICU and government on the other, which resulted in death and destruction, are clear indications that the suffering of the innocent civilians of the Somali capital is from over. The warlords have come and gone. So have the Ethiopian invaders. Now it is the turn of ‘Hawiye men of religion’ to raze whatever little infrastructure left in Mogadishu to the ground and make more people homeless, hence create more internally displaced persons (IDP). The sad thing about southern Somalia is the fact that the same people who were shouting death to Ethiopia and Allahu Akbar are now turning their guns to their own people in the name of Islam. When the dreaded Ethiopians have left Mogadishu and parts of southern Somalia, most people were relieved to see the back of this lot. The expectation among most Somalis was one of hope, if not a jubilation. How wrong they were. Now, their hopes and expectations have been dented by religious zealots who could not care about Somalia and its people. The citizens of Mogadishu are in desperate need of help from the international community. They are crying for help, wherever that help comes from. The world has left Somali to rot in hell for far too long. This is the time the international community should intervene Somalia on a massive proportions, and we are not talking here about a few thousands African troops. We are talking about a massive intervention similar to that happened in Iraq and Afghanistan, or even Congo. To leave Somalia to continue in this path and expect to come out this madness by its own is not going to happen. People are simply too tired, too frail and even too confused to rid themselves of this new Taliban. If Dahir Aweys and his Shabaab supporters were to become victorious in this latest fratricidal war in Mogadishu, Somalis will witness the most austere form of Islamic rule ever seen anywhere in the world. Worse even than the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Sheikh Sharif’s government, despite its shortcomings, is the last hope for Mogadishu residents and Somalia. The world has turned a blind eye to the plight of Somalis for almost two decades. It is time to take seriously of what is happening to the people of Mogadishu and its environs. The people are dying a slow death. Mohamed F Yabarag _______________________________________________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com |
