After more than two decades of war in Somalia — driven by the fighting between clans, devastating foreign policies, and in recent years, Al Qaeda’s East Africa group, Al Shabab — it is not uncommon to have leaders with bloodied pasts. A common refrain in Mogadishu as it embarks on a slow recovery is that moving forward means forgiving the past. But many Somalis interviewed by the Star say Farah’s reputation for torture cannot be forgotten. Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed dismissed the head of national security and police commissioner, Canadian Gen. Abdihakim Dahir Saeed, following a July 8 attack on the presidential palace — the most recent in a spate of targeted Shabab strikes and assassinations. In an interview with the Star from Mogadishu earlier this year, the prime minister had praised the advances of the security services and said he anticipates the police will have a bigger role in the future, even surpassing that of the military once the security situation stabilizes. And he acknowledged that Somalis have an inherent mistrust of their political leaders after years of corruption. “Somali politics are not stable, because of the clan issues, tribe issues . . . we have a long way to go,” he said from his office. Saeed at first refused to step down — questioning the constitutionality of Farah’s appointment — but later conceded. “Everybody inside and outside Somalia are shocked,” Saeed said in a telephone interview from Mogadishu. “Change is normal but they have to hire someone in this position whose record is clean.”
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 01:03:00 +0000
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