After Ethiopia’s long journey for the “Which Way to the Sea, Please?” Abiy Ahmed spoke to his people on the first day of the new year and told them that he may finally has the answer: The road towards Saylac coastline goes through the border with Somalia. We will go through the border by any means necessary, and Saylac coast will be ours. Let us go now and celebrate.
It is day five and Abiy Ahmed and Ethiopia are still in celebration mood, and the Oromos are leading the chorus. But who is really pulling the strings of the dismantling of Somalia? Look no further, it is the UAE and Israel, and Ethiopia has always been the Jewish state’s jewel crown in Africa.
On Wednesday, Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates president, said at a conference in Dubai that “The UAE has made a strategic decision to maintain relations with Israel, and strategic decisions are long-term in nature … There is no doubt that any strategic decision will face many obstacles, and we have a significant obstacle to overcome.”
One obstacle for the UAE to overcome is Somalia’s staunch stand on its unity and territorial integrity. But the UAE has implanted a slow motion dismantling of Somalia. Some politicians call it a ‘stealth dismantling of a nation.”
UAE and Saudi Arabia, in an eight year old war, have failed their first strategic plan, which was to devour and dismantle Yemen and then take full control of Bab el-Mandeb strait (the Gate of Sorrows) that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. With their failure in Yemen and the subsequent strengthening of Yemen’s Ansarullah, Somalia takes a heightened importance. Instead of their stealth dismantling, a new approach is now being tested. A piecemeal plan to take away a small piece of Somalia at a time, and move on to the next. The road from Awbarre and Aysha to the Saylac coast is their first piecemeal.
Of course, while dismantling Somalia, this will all be done through peace speeches and an aura of bringing Ethiopia and Somalia closer together, just like Gaza and Israel. And examples of this political maneuvering can be found through Anwar Gargash speeches.
Speaking at an Atlantic Council event on 20 August 2020, Gargash is quoted as saying that the US-brokered deal between the UAE and Israel will help further efforts to achieve a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question by removing the prospect of Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Instead of peace, the UAE became the third Arab country to formally recognize Israel, and as a reward, Israel leveled Gaza and now commits genocide while everyone watches.
You may ask, why would Somalia be different than Gaza? In the eyes of the UAE, it is no different, and it is a mere nuisance to be swatted away and dismantled.
However, President Hassan Sheikh might be getting the message. In today’s Friday prayer sermon, President Hassan Sheikh addressing the nation, seemed to have directly sent a message to both the UAE and China, and said about countries that have yet to support Somalia, “For the others who are still quiet and in hiding, let me tell you brothers, our relations with you will take a turn for the worse, but know you will not hurt Somalia; and you can’t give away our land to another country. Cast the die and make up your mind. Somalia owns this land. Somalia used to own this land. Somalia will own this land for eternity.”
PRESIDENT HASSAN SHEIKH REPRIMANDS COUNTRIES WHO HAVE YET TO SUPPORT SOMALIA'S SOVEREIGNTY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity is under attack by Ethiopia, and for the first time President Hassan Sheikh while thanking a number of countries… pic.twitter.com/stCNAc13iC
— Daljir Media (@radiodaljir) January 5, 2024
Now the question is, will tangible and practical response follow the tough talk from Villa Somalia?
Daljir Media | Contributed to by Daljir staff in Nairobi, Mogadishu and Garoowe
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