In a dramatic turn of events, a leaked recording has shed light on a clandestine meeting between Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, and Ictisaam leaders in Minnesota. The revelations within the hour-long tape are nothing short of shocking, providing a glimpse into Somalia’s political maneuvers and controversial strategies. Let’s delve into the key highlights of this eye-opening secret speech.
Fiqi, a prominent figure in the Somali government, sparked controversy by alleging that the Ethiopian government is instigating conflict between the Afars and Djibouti. The meeting unveils Somalia’s aggressive stance towards Somaliland and Ethiopia, portraying a narrative of intense rivalry and territorial ambitions.
The minister’s discussion takes a surprising turn as he advocates for US-based Somalian individuals to influence American policymakers. From discussing the idea of vote-buying to exerting pressure on Congress and the Senate, Fiqi’s words reveal a strategic push to advance Somalia’s interests on the international stage.
Another revelation surfaces as Fiqi acknowledges Somalia’s role in annexing the East Sool region of Somaliland. This move orchestrated through a web of proxies and local collaborators, aimed to counterbalance Somaliland’s growing international recognition following the US NDAA inclusion in 2022.
Fiqi sheds light on Somalia’s aspirations to wield influence through its upcoming membership in the UN Security Council in 2025. The minister hints at leveraging this position to thwart Somaliland’s recognition efforts and undermine the MoU to stabilize the region.
The discussion takes a poignant turn as Fiqi reveals Somalia’s ambitions for reunification with Somaliland, challenging the existing agreements with Somaliland. He paints a picture of strategic chess moves aimed at weakening Somaliland’s leadership and pushing for a unified Somalia under Mogadishu’s authority.
The leaked meeting provides a rare glimpse into the intricate web of political machinations at play in the Horn of Africa. It underscores the high-stakes game of regional power dynamics, where alliances shift, and ambitions clash. As the world watches these developments unfold, one thing remains clear – Somalia’s political landscape is a complex tapestry of intrigue and ambition.
Read the excerpts of the secret speech by the foreign minister of Somalia to Somali religious figures in the United States, translated into English by Ambassador Haggoogane.
#BreakingNews: In the leaked audio of a meeting between the Hawiye FM and Somali religious extremists (Ictisaam), Fiqi announced they no longer recognize Somaliland as an administration. They plan to engage with tribes and groups in Somaliland. pic.twitter.com/iHVXyOK6Os
— Inside Africa (@inside_afric) June 13, 2024
Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, The foreign minister of Somalia’s secret speech to Somalian religious figures in the USA
Opening remark
Thank you for inviting me to this meeting. To the “Somali” religious scholars here, I am honored to appear before you and provide a much-needed briefing on the government’s priorities. I appreciate your efforts to convene this meeting on a weekend and I know you are all driven by your love for Somalia and the responsibilities placed upon you who live in the USA. Many Somalian Americans who live in this country do important jobs on behalf of Somalia, to advance the interests of Somalia and its citizens. “Somali” religious scholars are not the exception. In fact, you are an extension of the government of Somalia.
The situation in Somalia
Due to advances in technology, it’s now even easier to follow events taking place around the world in real-time. But I want to give you a brief overview of the situation in Somalia by touching on several issues.
The first one is many countries in this world today are where Somalia was over 30 years ago when Somalia was socially and economically transformed in what can only be described as leapfrog jumps. If you recall, between the 1960s and 1980s when much of Africa was in the dark, while Somalia was advancing at lightning speed. No other African country was ahead of Somalia and we had big political and territorial ambitions (expanding to Ethiopia and Kenya) to achieve without much of a strategy and regard for the international borders, territorial integrity, and the sovereignty of other states. That resulted in the world conscripting against our nation. Many countries that went through similar experiences, such as armed rebellion and civil were assisted quickly to once again stand up on their legs. Somalia was never assisted and the world abandoned us to our own devices. Big powers took advantage of our misery pitting one group against the other. You ask the people of Mogadishu, they have an excellent experience of this, or even those who were in Hargeisa, Somaliland in 1988. Our institutions were destroyed by evil outsiders and that was their first target. Sudan is now going through the same thing Somalia went through in the 1980s. They are being destroyed by evil outsiders, with state institutions under attack. In Somalia, outsiders stole government archives, files, and records. This is why the Somalian government possesses no records and neither do Somalians apart from Radio Mogadishu and the foreign ministry records. We, Somalians did think strategically about this but we made some attempts in 1989 to put a stop to this with the creation of the Manifesto Group.
Quite strangely, Somalia has a thriving economy without a government and we can say this is a miracle and allowed us to survive. Nevertheless, three decades of lawlessness is too long for us, it’s unprecedented anywhere else in the world. Many other Muslim countries that followed Somalia’s footsteps are being destroyed by evil outsiders including Afghanistan, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.
The Somaliland-Ethiopia MoU
Today, at a time when Somalia has made strides in addressing many of the outstanding issues, including the restructuring (sold as debt forgiveness) of historic debt, accession into the East Africa Economic Community, reconciliation with clannisatans (federal member states), the lifting of weapons embargo championed by the UK via the UNSC, new challenges have risen. We are focused on building a new army to take control of our borders (NOT fighting Shabaab) and implementing our rule over the land we claim.
On December 27, 2023, we summoned the Somaliland president and his administration to come and meet us in Djibouti for a reconciliation meeting to prepare preliminary work for the re-unification of Somalia. The meeting took place in Djibouti, and I was there as a member of the Somalia delegation. We agreed with the president of Somaliland, to meet again in February 2024 to talk about the reunification of Somalia, because we can never accept an independent country called Somaliland. All they are allowed to ask us is the terms of reunification they seek. If they believe they made a mistake in 1960 by surrendering their sovereignty to us, they now have a proper opportunity to ask for a better bargain. We can accommodate them.
Three days later, something completely unexpected occurred, and we just woke up to the news of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Somaliland and Ethiopia. The lifelong ambitions of Ethiopia on access to the sea is all now a real possibility and Muse Bihi, the president of Somaliland, was given a big offer of recognition for his state, at a time when he was politically desperate for some sort of a victory following our successful annexation of East Sool region in Somaliland. He is militarily defeated and destroyed. That is not even the end, we have engaged and encouraged dissent in the Awdal region, and many others in Hargeisa and Burco rebelling against his rule. They are up in the mountains fighting. This made Muse feel desperate and he is now gambling with the whole of the country. The old man running Ethiopia, Abiye, according to his logic, was triggered by the meeting between the three Somali leaders (Ismail Guelleh, Muse Bihi, and Hassan Sheikh) in the Horn of Africa who were ready to finalize a permanent plan for the ending of Somali feud and the rise of New Somalia, the defeat of Al-Shabaab, who by the way is our young sons allegedly fighting for Islam, although I do not think that is the case. Al-Shabaab are Somalians and Somalians are Muslims, so instead of fighting the kuffars (disbelievers), they are killing Muslims and they are from as far as Ethiopia, crossing into our Somalia border. Al-Shabaab is a project designed to prevent the unity of Somalia. It will never end. He, Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, saw the rise of new Somalia as a threat to Ethiopia, especially knowing Ethiopians were massacring each other. Thus, he became convinced that giving Somaliland a good offer of recognition in exchange for a sea outlet.
We know those who currently rule Somaliland are at their weakest point in history, with people rebelling against them, with no sight of change of government (signaling preference for regime change) as they are refusing to hold the election, loss of significant territory to our forces in East Sool means they are on the brink of being coerced back to unity with Somalia. Thus, the offer of recognition to Somaliland is a calculated move against Somalia. Abiy’s move has caused our country immense damage, and it divides up Somalia, making us lose the most strategic real estate asset in the Gulf of Aden owned by Somalia. Historically, this area (Somaliland) was a net earner to Somalia, we derived much of our earnings from them. For Djibouti, it’s game over for them, the 20KM Somaliland is leasing to Ethiopia represents a death sentence for Djibouti and its future. We are not only the 20km leased land, but an entire land corridor stretching from Ethiopia into Somaliland via a rail line, all the way down to the coast. Abiy will not parachute his proposed port in the Gulf of Aden but he will be protecting his investment with Ethiopian boots on the ground. Djibouti and Somalia would no longer have a land border and that is very dangerous for Djibouti because the Afar ethnic group and their ilks would be encouraged to take control from Somali Issa led by president Guelleh. Therefore, this is a big issue that has overshadowed everything else the Somali government is engaged in. The MoU is now our only focus, everything else is no longer a priority.
We do think, Ethiopia is not alone in this endeavor, other states would like to see Somaliland recognized and Ethiopia acquire a foothold in the Gulf of Aden. Again, this is the biggest issue in our hands, and every progress we have made in the last two years is now regressing because we are preoccupied with Somaliland and Ethiopia MoU. God is of course also on our side.
In 1977, when we invaded Ethiopia, we were militarily successful and defeated them, but we lacked any victory in the diplomatic arena. Today, militarily, we are no match for Ethiopia, but diplomatically, we have isolated Ethiopia. Almost all international institutions, forums, and organizations are on Somalia’s side and they have condemned Ethiopia. Thus, now Ethiopia and Somaliland have to hire international lobby firms based in Western capitals. This is the new front in our war against Ethiopia and Somaliland, and I give you the task of taking on this challenge right here in the USA to use your influence and vote to help Somalia’s cause. Inside Somaliland and Ethiopia, we have been able to shape public opinions in favor of us using all the tools available to us. Even in the Somali region of Ethiopia, almost all the people are on Somalia’s side. They are our shield against Ethiopia. A 20-year-old Somali-Ethiopian in the Somali regional State of Ethiopia even told Muse to look at them and see how Ethiopia enslaved them. He warned them to avoid dealing with Ethiopia.
Fortunately, if we did not succeed in annexing Las Anod by creating chaos in that region of Somaliland. Somaliland was on the brink of recognition by the USA and other Western countries. The US Congress were ready to consider or even table a motion recognizing Somaliland as a sovereign state if we did not start the war in Las Anod. Our ambassador to the USA, sitting across the table briefed me on this. Now, the division of Somalia and the recognition of Somaliland is taking place in Western capitals, pushed by lobbying firms and this should be part of your considerations as you strategize.
We have now secured a seat in the United Nations Security Council, which is the premier global decision-making place where matters of recognition of new states are decided. Here, we will have several friends, and over the next two years, we will use our membership in the UNSC to advance the interests of Somalia and thwart any attempt to recognize Somaliland.
For you Somalians in the US, you have to use your vote and influence against both the senators and the congress to advance our cause and prevent them from ever dealing with Somaliland and Ethiopia. They want your vote, and in exchange, tell them you want their loyalty to Somalia. Exchange your votes wisely.
Right now, Abiy Ahmed is delirious, hitting a wall after a wall. He went over to Kenya to ask for mediation but we laid down a pre-condition of retracting the MoU before talks. He refused to do that and only offered verbal assurances. He has since approached Turkiye with the same request and a meeting is expected to take place soon.
