KISMAYO, Somalia Nov 7 2012 (Garowe Online) - A delegation consisting of
Somali government and security authorities from Mogadishu who unexpectedly
arrived in Kismayo were deported from airport, Garowe Online reports.
According to Kismayo authorities, an eight-member delegation that was sent
by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud without notification was deported from
Kismayo airport on Wednesday by Kismayo authorities.
The delegation included AMISOM Spokesman Col. Ismail Hamud former Jubba
Valley Alliance (JVA) militia leader Col. Mohamed Roble Goobaale, and other
officials.
Col. Goobaale, under the political leadership of Col. Barre Adan Hiraale and
Col. Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, is alleged of committing war crimes during the
seven-year when bloody clashes over control Kismayo occurred. In early 2007,
the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) drove the JVA out of Kismayo.
According to government sources, the delegation was sent to Jubaland regions
to investigate the resurging charcoal trade in Kismayo, which has been
banned by the Somali government and UN Security Council resolutions.
A journalist delegation of 10 Somali and foreign journalists that
accompanied the Mogadishu delegation was left stranded at Kismayo airport
after they failed to get a return flight to Mogadishu.
Kismayo authorities stated that they were disappointed that neither the
President nor his government notified authorities in Kismayo about the visit
by the delegation, which President Hassan assigned earlier this week.
The delegation from Mogadishu was expected earlier this week but cancelled
on two different occasions before arriving in Kismayo on Wednesday.
According to local sources, authorities in Kismayo did not welcome President
Hassan's nomination of former militia leaders - who are alleged to have
committed war crimes in Kismayo in the past - as the investigating committee
into the charcoal allegations.
Some Kismayo residents told local media that the local administration's
decision to deport the Mogadishu delegaion was consistent with the local
people's right and aspirations to form an inclusive state administration
that is representative of local clans.
According to Kismayo authorities, the original delegation included Yusuf
Mohamed Said Inda'ade a former warlord who has a record of brutalizing local
populations in Lower Shabelle region in the early 2000s.
Government analysts, who spoke to GO on condition of anonmity, believe the
issues that the Somali Federal Government has to tackle is larger than a
return of the charcoal trade in Kismayo and local officials say the Somali
government is intereferring in the local process to establish Jubaland
administration, in line with the Provisional Federal Constitution of
Somalia.
Analysts suggest that there is friction between President Hassan's
government and the Jubaland state process being led by Kismayo local leaders
and facilitated by IGAD regional bloc that has also been supported by the
Kenyan government.
"I believe that President Hassan desires to be very involved in the state
formation of Jubaland and could be a blunder for his government if handled
incorrectly," said Mohamed Jama an analyst of Somali politics.
The Jubaland state process began during the Transitional Federal
Government's (TFG) tenure months ago and was supported by Roadmap
signatories who signed the Provisional Federal Constitution of Somalia
promotes the formation of federated states such as Jubaland.
Received on Wed Nov 07 2012 - 20:47:54 EST
