Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) - “Somalia is above all its own victim...victim of its inability to procure shared power, a problem that we could call “the Somali curse.” Along with this fact, there are also the influences of foreign powers who support certain local groups, in promotion of their own interests,” Agenzia Fides was told by Federico Battera, researcher in African history and institutions from the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Trieste, who has done in-depth research on Somalia.
News continues to come from Somalia, of clashes between the troops of the transitional government, formed by “moderate” Muslims and supported by the African Union, and radical forces, especially the Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen movement. In a heavy bombing led by the government forces on the northern part of Mogadishu, the country's capital, some thirty people were killed. In central Somalia, the fighting between the Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen movement and the Ahlu Sunna Waljama movement, sympathizers with the transitional government, another 35 people were killed. “The Ahlu Sunna Waljama is a group that was started nearly 15 years ago, from a Sufi brotherhood, who incarnate the mystical and general quietism of Islam. This has not kept the ASW from taking up arms against the HAM, a movement inspired by extremist ideology,” Battera comments. This begs the question as to whether the old clan divisions that characterize the recent history of Somalia have had ideological motives superimposed on them to create new divisions. “The answer is complex,” says Battera. “While it is true that the so-called 'war-lords,' who have dominated Mogadishu, from the moment of the arrival of the Islamic forces, reasoned in terms of clan and sub-clan, it is also true that these leaders' main concern was that of protecting, and if possible extending, their activity – legal and illegal. The apparition on the Somali scene of movements linked to an ideology (Islamic), that can appear in various degrees, had given a glimpse of the possibility of finding a unifying factor that would surpass the clan logic. However, this has not occurred, because beyond the internal divisions in the ideology itself (between “moderates” and “extremists”), in the Islamic field as well, the traditional factors that divide Somali society reappear. This is evident when it comes time to chose their leaders: and this is in fact where the clan logic reemerges with its destabilizing force.”
Battera adds: “The divisions that cause the most violent conflict are not those between different clans, but those within the same clan, which is also subdivided into various sub-clans. These divisions are even found in Somaliland, the most peaceful part of the country, which has proclaimed itself independent from the rest of Somalia.”
In short, the Islamic ideology, instead of favoring a passage beyond factors of division, has further complicated the situation in Somalia, by allowing, among other things, foreign extremists to establish themselves in the country, bringing arms, fighters, and money with them to feed the war. On the other hand, various foreign powers, both African and non-African, are moving their pawns in the area in a power play whose scheme is not always evident.
There is a risk that the destabilization of Somalia could extend itself beyond its own boundaries, as has been demonstrated in the continual attacks of the Somali pirates and the incursions of Somali armed groups in Kenya, where three humanitarian aid workers were recently taken hostage. In November 2008, two sisters from the Contemplative Missionary Movement of Charles de Foucauld of Cuneo (Italy) were taken hostage in Kenya, on the Somali border, and later released in February in Mogadishu (see Fides 2/2/2009). (LM) (Agenzia Fides 24/7/2009)
