Somalia’s fate swings like hypnotist’s watch between Africa and Arab world. Geographically, it lies in the Horn of Africa and adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula. Naturally, Somalia is at the crossroads between the African and Arab cultures. This state is not the first failed state but is the longest running instance of state collapse in the history of Africa. After the cold war many countries failed to function without the support of the superpower countries. Regrettably, Somalia is the only country that unambiguously fits the definition of a failed state and caught between the conflicting imperatives of Arabs and Africans. Each time one writes to it, it invalidates the other's political interests.

At the end of proceedings of the Arab summit in Algiers, the Arab leaders issued "Algiers Declaration", which said “The declaration hailed positive developments in Somalia, as represented in electing a President and a transitional federal parliament as an important step on the way to restore unity of Somalia and its independence.”

Equally, a statement issued by the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Alpha Oumar Konare said “The Chair further hails the establishment of a fully-fledged Transitional Federal Government as a crowning success following the successful conclusion of the Somali National Reconciliation Conference and as yet another bold step taken by the Somalis towards the attainment of peace and stability in Somalia.”

Observant readers may discern the difference between the two statements. The African statement emphasizes ‘peace and stability’ and not unity whereas the Arab one underscores ‘unity and independence’ and not chaos.

In Somalia, there is a distinct atmosphere of confrontation between those who push Somalia to move closer toward the Arab world and those who want Somalia to have a close relationship with neighbouring countries. This discord is not something that started after the decomposition of Siad Barre’s government. A document published by the U.S. Department of State, in July 1998, said “After Somalia adopted its first national constitution in 1961…there was substantial conflict between pro-Arab, pan-Somali militants intent on national unification with the Somali-inhabited territories in Ethiopia and Kenya and the "modernists," who wished to give priority to economic and social development and improving relations with other African countries.”

The poignant situation in Somalia evidently shows that the country has become a battleground to settle any inherent animosity between Arabs and Africans. In May 2002, Husayn Aidid, then the co-chairman of Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council, addressing a press conference in the Ethiopian capital, said “the years of conflict which had ravaged the country derived from a clash between Arabs and Africans.”

Several countries from Africa and Arab Peninsula contributed to destruction of Somalia especially after 1977 when the Russians chose to drop their Somali allies for a close link with the government in Ethiopia. The following example is a case in point. Despite weapons embargo against Somali militias, many African and Arab countries have been reported to have helped provide weapons to Somalia. Sadly, failing to respect the UN arms embargo by these countries meant weapons sold by them were used to slaughter Somali civilians, violate basic human rights and starve thousands of Somalis.

Politically Somalia is in a no-win situation. When Arta conference, which enjoyed the support of the Arab states, was held, some African countries such as Ethiopia remained ambiguous about the peace process and Abdiqasim's election as the President of The Transitional National Government of Somalia. Ethiopia started to undermine the TNG through SRRC, which is built up around a number of warlords and other faction leaders. Andrew Maykuth, Philadelphia Inquirer's correspondent, noticed this “Some say he [Abdiqasim] got off on the wrong foot almost immediately after his appointment at the Arta Conference. He sought help from Arab countries, angering regional power Ethiopia. Ethiopia, miffed at the lack of respect from its neighbour, has funnelled assistance to several factional leaders, providing a greater incentive for them to oppose Abdiqasim's government than to join it.”

The subsequent failure of the TNG led to two years of plodding negotiations in Kenya and Arabs were not cheerful about the Somali National Reconciliation Conference in which Ethiopia influence was apparent. The SRRC seemed to have emerged the winner when Abdullahi Yusuf became the new transitional president. Abdullahi did the reverse of his predecessor and visited Ethiopia first and requested AU to send up to 20,000 peacekeeping troops to Somalia. As expected, the President received a lukewarm welcome from Arab countries. It is difficult to foretell how they will behave in the future but it is not surprising if they knock his government off-balance.

It is hard to envisage how Somalis can take a viable route towards durable peace in Somalia while these countries keep meddling in its internal affairs. Somali people should not be forced to speculate and debate the pros and cons of foreign policies of other countries towards their country. And they should not wrestle choosing between neighbouring countries and offshore friends while they are permanently denied peace and stability.

Mohamed Mukhtar Ibrahim
London, UK
E-mail: mohamed323@hotmail.com