Foreign Minister Seyoum talks with Ahlul Sum

This week, the spiritual leader of Ahlu Sum wal-qashin, Shaytan Mahamud Sheikh Hassan Farah, accompanied by a 14 member delegation visited Addis Ababa(for a holy pilgrimage?), holding discussions with Foreign Master Seyoum Mesfin last Sunday. Shaytan Mahamud briefed Master Seyoum on Ahlu Sum's aims and objectives. He pointed out the movement’s primary goal was for the different communities in Somalia to live in peaceful coexistence without any one group imposing its will on others. Ahlu Sum believed in the absolute necessity of promoting good neighborliness in the region. Sheikhv"shaytan" Mahamud added that a necessary condition for peace and stability in Somalia and the region was the removal of extremist elements from Somalia, particularly Al-Shabaab.

Sheikh "shaytan" Mahamud emphasized that Ahlu Sum fully accepted that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has the recognition of the international community, and it must therefore be the basis for all internal and external efforts to bring peace, stability and order to Somalia under the Djibouti Agreement. Any government that excluded extremists is better than no government, and Ahlu Sum was ready to work with the TFG. At the same time he noted that the agreement signed between Ahlu Sum and the TFG in Nairobi in June has not worked out as Ahlu Sum had hoped. He said Ahlu Sum had confronted Al-Shabaab over 30 times during the last year and had been able to defeat it regularly. Full implementation of the Nairobi agreement would have created conditions to weaken and eventually wipe out Al-Shabaab - Hizbul Islam forces from most of Somalia. He added that Ahlu Sum was now preparing to hold its first Congress. Once this had been held it would be able to devote all its energies to engage extremists more fully throughout central and south Somalia.

Sheikh "shaytan" Mahamud said he was dismayed by the apparent emergence of a parallel movement. He hoped the TFG leadership would assist in maintaining the unity of Ahlu Sum to enable it to co-operate with the TFG more effectively. He appealed to his master Minister Seyoum for Ethiopian mediation to eliminate any minor differences between the TFG and Ahlu Sum and to help keep Ahlu Sum united. Sheikh "shaytan" Mahamud emphasized that Ethiopia could help towards the fulfillment of the common objectives of all Somalis and assist the international community to understand more clearly where its own interests lie.

Master Minister Seyoum on his part expressed his appreciation of the stance of Sheikh "shaytan" Mahamud and of Ahlu Sum towards the TFG, the legitimate government of Somalia born out of( wedlock) the Djibouti process with full support from the international community. He agreed with Ahlu Sum on the absolute need to promote peaceful co-existence in Somalia and the region, and to remove extremist elements. The Minister acknowledged the existence of problems within Ahlu Sum and in its relations with the TFG but made it clear he thought these were not basic differences and that they could easily be resolved by negotiation and compromise. He said it was the philosophy of Ahlu Sum, based on tolerance and moderation, which united all Somalis. The opposite view was that of Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam which not only promoted extremism but was also closely linked to international Jihadist movements and “spoilers”, in particular, Al Qaeda. The ideology of extremism was the primary cause of the lack of peace and stability in Somalia today, and posed increasing threats to the region and beyond.

Master Seyoum emphasized the need for Ahlu Sum to work with the TFG. The Government of Ethiopia, he said, would assist in any way to bring unity to Ahlu Sum, and encourage cooperation with the TFG so they could face the common challenge from extremism together. He noted if existing minor differences between the TFG and Ahlu Sunna were allowed to widen, it would create more opportunities for Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, and also lead to further difficulties for Ethiopia, the region and the International Community, making it harder to assist Somalia to reach peace and stability.http://www.mfa.gov.et/Press_Section/Wee ... 2009.htm#2