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In a carefully crafted and well-worded memorandum, dated July 14, 2005, Mr. Meles Zenawi , Prime Minister of the Democratic Federal Republic of Ethiopia (DFRE), offered a peace deal to his nemesis insurgent, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). In his memo, the Prime Minister issued calls for mediated talks and challenged ONLF to put down its arms, denounce violence and begin participating in the political process in a peaceful manner. This is the second of such deal that the Ethiopian government offered to ONLF since Meles Zenawi took power in 1991. A similar offer was issued to ONLF in the mid 1990s, but that effort miserably failed without any tangible results and ONLF's status in the region has deteriorated significantly. The insurgency of the ONLF is based on a narrow clan vision and lacks inclusive perspective. Its hit-and-run struggle, without victory in sight, only exacerbates the misery of the people in the Somali region, particularly in the six eastern regions of the Somali Regional State (SRS). The net result, after 13 years of ONLF-EPRDF conflict, is death and destruction to the people in the region. Moreover, ONLF's ill-advised tactics of murdering local traditional leaders in the region, a case in point being Shukri Makhtal Haybe, or capturing and burning civilian-owned vehicles, including commercial ones which carry the livelihood for many poor people, are all the more counterproductive. Rather, these tactics only contribute to the demise of the region. To add insult to an injury, the ONLF has failed so far to seize on the opportunity to add their voice to those against the illegal land transfer of some districts of the Somali State of Ethiopia to Oromia, hence making it less relevant in the politics of the region.
Yet, the present offer for peace talks comes on the heels of a long and grassroots effort by a tenacious group of elders ( Guurti ), who were representing seven regions (zones) of the Somali Regional State. The Somali Regional State consists of 9 Zones. Almost a year ago, a Guurti group from six zones ( Dhagahbuur , Wardheer , Nogob , Qoraxay , Goday , Afdheer ) and numbering more than 30 citizens took up the arduous task of pacifying their troubled regions . Despite financial and personal hardships, and only armed with the confidence of the residents in these regions, the traditional leaders ( Ugaas , Garaad , Suldaan ) decidedly took a historic trip to the State House built by Emperor Menilik II to meet with Mr. Meles Zenawi and offer him their help in pacifying their regions. These regions, the most peripheral regions of the SRS, are traditionally the center of conflict between ONLF insurgents and the EPRDF troops. Both the ONLF and EPRDF troops are known to be equally cruel and careless other than their respective military objectives. As a result, the people and the region's development suffered significantly. Another serious development in the region that gave added momentum to the Guurti movement is the irreparable issue of land transfer from the Somali region to the neighboring Oromia Regional State, whose ruling Oromo Peoples Democratic Organization (OPDO) is a member of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition. This latest development, whose responsibility lies with the weak and feeble regional government, prompted a new group of elders ( Jigjiga Guurti ) to join the Guurti movement. Hence, as it stands now, the Somali Guurti, representing 7 of the 9 zones of the Somali National State , assumed new heights. Effectively, the region's Guurti wants to (a) pacify the region and begin to convince the ONLF to partake in the peaceful talks and be able to seek its goals through peaceful means, (b) help reinstate lost Somali districts back to the Somali Regional State; and (c) have the federal government implement and uphold the constitutional rights of the residents of the Somali State. The Guurti offered to Mr. Zenawi their good offices to mediate between the ONLF and Zenaw's government. It is with this background that Meles Zenawi issued his memorandum for unconditional talks with the ONLF. This is a positive development and the Guurti's movement constitutes an admirable act on behalf of peace and reconciliation. There are, however, some serious obstacles, which may lead this latest rapprochement to a premature stalemate:
Unfortunately, Zenawi has already embarked on a course of undermining the efforts of the original Guurti by creating a parallel Guurti through the shadow regional government's leaders. Zenawi has already met with the said Guurti which the interim regional president organized on July 12, 2005. In the past, Mr. Zenawi is known to say one thing publicly and do another behind his chambers. Despite his peace offer to ONLF, one's expectation of the olive branch from the Zenawi side is already tempered by the Prime Minister's new move of pulling off the rug under the feet of the original Guurti . WardheerNews had watched with interest the recent developments in the SRS in the past and would continue to carefully monitor the talks, if they ever take place, between Mr. Meles Zenawi and his ONLF counterparts. We remain [cautiously] optimistic and continue to watch the shape that this latest rapprochement takes. At minimum, the hard work of the Guurti representing 7 of the State's 9 regions is a grassroots movement that would not rest until tangible results are achieved towards the secession of conflict, stamp out the corruption in the region and restore the full constitutional rights to its people. The peace initiative from Zenawi's office (and let us hope that Zenawi is honest about it) and the expected positive response from the leadership of the ONLF (who has lacked any sort of political imagination in the past) to participate in mediated talks hopefully represent new winds of change that may peacefully sweep the troubled Somali Regional State of Ethiopia.
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