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Weekend Impressions:Ending a Congress � Starting a Struggle

Written by Meron Abraha

Tuesday, 18 September 2007

“Conference creates a ready man,” once said British Francis Bacon.

A friend mentioned this quotation while we were talking about the recently concluded Congress for the Liberation and Reconstitution of Somalia, which Eritrea hosted. As I pondered over the quote I thought of all the Somalis who attended the nine-day conference at the Expo Hall in Asmara. Starting from day one of the congress, the participants, who have been dubbed by the media as the “crème de la crème” of Somalia, had been emotionally expressing their readiness to drive out the Ethiopian invaders and regain control of their nation.

After following the opening session of the congress live on Eritrean television, Ms. Alem Tekeste, an ex-fighter, told me that she cried when she saw some of the participants shed tears hearing the words of a guest speaker.

“It shows how deeply hurt they are by the atrocities being committed on their families and fellow citizens in Somalia,” she said.

Indeed, there have been repeated reports of Ethiopian military forces in Somalia attacking civilian targets.

It all resembles the Eritreans during colonization. It was when people were murdered and deprived of their properties by colonizers that Eritreans chose to fight for their liberation; just what the Somalis need and are about to do.

Ever since the collapse of the central government in 1991, civil war and instability has ravished the Somali nation. But now, there seems to be a new hope in the horizon.

The various opposition clans and factions have set aside their differences and have unified under an umbrella organization, “Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).”

Speaking about the ARS, spokesman for the congress and former Minister of Information, Mr. Zekariah Mahmoud Abdu told local journalists that the alliance will pursue a political strategy but may resort to a military one if the Ethiopians fail to withdraw.

He underscored that “not only would they have no chance of escaping but they would also face the Somalis’ complete fury.”

Ms. Alem said that the Somalis share a longstanding history with Eritreans. She brought up an instance where an acquaintance of hers had to use a Somali passport to get out of Eritrea during the Dergue period.

The Somalis also contributed a great deal of support to the Eritrean Armed Struggle. And now Eritrea is reciprocating the noble gesture.

“I can’t find enough words to thank Eritreans for all they’ve done for us. They know what it means to be liberated and now they are helping us to liberate our country,” said Mr. Rashid Abdella Osman, whom I met having tea with two other Somalis at the Ambassoira Hotel.

Mr. Zekariah shares Rashid’s view and appreciates the role of Eritrea in providing a forum for the Somalis to converse with themselves and resolve their differences to achieve a better result.

“They (Eritreans) had to give up their religious holiday to be with us at the conference, so I would like to thank them,” Mr. Zekariah was quoted as saying.

In the closing ceremony of the congress all participants stood up to sing the Somali national anthem as their flag was raised on two sides in the front podium. It was truly a noteworthy moment of patriotism.

There they go. They finished one small journey and embarked on a bigger one: the struggle for liberation.

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