Open letter to the Emir of Qatar: A rejoinder

[Deeq A.]

Professor Hassan Keynan posted in Caasidmada Online on 7 October 2019 an Open Letter to the Emir of Qatar, His Royal Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. The purpose of this communication as he said is to deliver a message from the besieged people of Jubaland, Somalia. As if His Royal Highness was in the dock for crimes he committed against Jubaland, Keynan asks him in no uncertain terms:

“Have you heard about the brutal blockade imposed on the people of Jubaland by the rogue Mogadishu-based government that misgoverns my country with your backing and blessing? Has the news of the human tragedy unfolding in the Jubaland State of Somalia reached you? What have the poor and vulnerable people of Jubaland done to you and your country to deserve such savage and egregious assault on their humanity and dignity in the hands of the proxies of the Al-Thani ruling family in Mogadishu?”

Professor Keynan’s pulls no punches in his strident concocted strictures against the Emir. His indictment against him amounts to almost crimes against humanity against what he calls the “poor and vulnerable people of Jubaland”. These crimes, the professor alleges, arise from the “the brutal blockade imposed on the people of Jubaland by the rogue Mogadishu-based government” with the Emir’s “backing”. This alleged blockade of Jubaland conjures up a situation in which the area is denied land, sea and air access to the outside world. It evokes similarity with Israeli’s merciless total blockade of Gaza and the perpetual suffering it inflicts on its helpless miserable people. This is what Qatar is doing to Jubaland, directly or indirectly, if the Professor is to be believed.

Kismayo and Jubaland are not on another planet. They are part and parcel of our homeland. Of course there is no such blockade on Jubaland, pure and simple. One can simply debunk Professor Keynan’s bogus Jubaland blockade through simple logic. One has to ask whether the Emir would ever be so rash and contemplate being party to a blockage anywhere in Somalia, and if so what would his country, itself a victim of total blockade by domineering troublesome neighbours, would gain from doing the same to the “poor people” of Jubaland? This is inconceivable.

Far from gaining anything, Qatar would on the contrary have much to lose. It very much appreciates the principled courageous stand taken by Somalia in defying the dictates of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to sever relations with the Sheikhdom. Why would Qatar choose to be nasty to the people of Jubaland and let all that valuable goodwill and sacrifice the Somali nation made for them, as government and people, go down the drain and? Of course they would not. Clearly, what the professor is spewing out is clearly fake specious news meant to make the Emir remorseful and terminate aid to the federal government of Somalia. If it does, it would certainly not be for his preposterous story.

Coming now to the reality in Jubaland, the only restriction temporarily imposed by the federal government for its own valid reasons is direct flight to Kismayo from outside the state. This is a far cry from a blockade which implies total restrictions of access to the town and its region by land, sea and air. Flights to Kismayo are, with rare exceptions, passenger flights. Otherwise, Kismayo and its state depend on its port for external trade and on air and road transport for internal communication and commerce within Somalia. None of that is affected except imports of Kenya’s drug export (Qat) to Kismayo, a drain on the region’s meager financial resources and danger to public health(as elsewhere) To that extent, this restriction on flights, which keeps out Kenya’s drugs for the time being (but hopefully forever) is a blessing in disguise and huge gain for Jubaland and the rest of Somalia. Otherwise, all essential requirements are still accessible through the port, and through land.

Manifestly, Professor Keynan’s outcry cannot be concern for the suffering people of Jubaland when the blockade he is alleging is non-existent. Rather, he is cynically using this outrageous accusation as a weapon to support Ahmed Madoobe’s presidency in Jubaland against his nemesis, President Farmaajo and his central government. It is a short-sighted mindset. Farmaajo will go sooner or later but in the meantime a lot of damage is being done to the federal government by those driven by blinkered personal political gains that undermine the President but in the longer term undermine the federal government and the State itself.

To recap, Professor Keynan makes unacceptable outlandish accusations against the head of State of one of the countries that is friendly and helpful to Somalia. One might expect this sort of loose unsubstantiated and indelicate language from the likes of Faisal Ali Waraabe but is unbecoming of a Professor, and even less from a former UN official who should have been steeped in its standards of prudence, measured language and fair-mindedness

By: Osman Hassan
Former UN Official
Geneva, Switzerland
Email: Osman.hassan2@gmail.com

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