Ogaden National Liberation Front :O.N.L.F"

ONLF Position Paper on the Current Dire Situation in the Horn of Africa
The Ogaden National Liberation Front is a grass-root organisation that was created by Ogaden youth activists and civic organisations that rebelled against the meddling of both the Somali government and foreigners from every corner of the world and made the Ogaden Somali people pawns to further other's political agendas. From its inception to date ONLF caters to nobody but the interest of the Ogaden Somalis.

ONLF is a national liberation front that fights for the rights of the Ogaden Somalis to self-determination in order to decide their future as is enshrined in the universal declaration of Human rights and considers Ethiopia as a colonial state that took part in the European Scramble for the colonisation of Africa in the 19th century.
Menelik's letter to the Berlin conference clearly states that Abyssinia (Ethiopia) does not intend to stand idle while Europe partitions Africa and that Menelik demands his share. Apart from this rhetoric Abyssinia had no means to materialise this dream, but the then world powers of that time installed him in the Ogaden by providing him with arms and men and by embargoing the Somali people in the Horn from external supplies as is happening today in another form and under another pretext. Despite all this the Ogaden Somalis resisted and restricted Menelik to the Harar area until the second world war, when the victorious allies disarmed the Somalis in the Ogaden, while gradually re-arming and training new Ethiopian army and handing the disarmed Ogaden people and territory to Ethiopia over a period of 10 years, giving the last part in 1956.

The Ogaden Somalis started their struggle and within few years threatened the New Ethiopia. Again foreign intervention and arms changed the direction of the struggle of the Ogaden Somalis. The Regime in Addis Ababa was advised to divert the attention of the world community that was increasingly anti- colonialism and anti-oppression from sympathising and supporting the just struggle of the Ogaden Somalis by blaming and attacking Somalia and turning the issue into a border problem. The new inexperienced Somali Government fell easily into that trap and from that day onwards the Ogaden cause turned into a border dispute and so-called Somali expansionism. The Ogaden Elders leading the liberation struggle, who were poorly educated and unaware of the forces arrayed against them, were no match for the regional and international forces that demonised and misrepresented the struggle of the Ogaden people.

In the late seventies the budding intellectuals and students from the Ogaden who were scattered in the region around the Horn started to agitate for the revitalisation of the national struggle. This coincided with the renewal of the rhetoric between the two military regimes in Somalia and Ethiopia that was vying for the control of the Horn.
Somalia sensing the budding struggle and sense of revival in the Ogaden struggle and the weaknesses of the regime in Addis Ababa hijacked the struggle and defeated easily the Ethiopian army and captured most of the Ogaden. Cuban troops and Warsaw Pact pilots and aeroplanes defeated the Somali army and reinstated Ethiopian occupation in the Ogaden. While all this was happening leading intellectuals and activist students were languishing in Somali prisons for resisting against Somali government intervention in the struggle of the Ogaden Somalis, knowing well the negative impact this would have on the national struggle.
From that day onwards the Ogaden Somalis decided to untie their fate from Somalia and pursue an independent struggle that clearly differentiates between Somalia and the Ogaden. Thus ONLF was founded on the principle that the Ogaden people are independent and sovereign and have the right to decide their destiny without bowing to any strings from any quarters.

After the fall of the two governments in Somalia and Ethiopia in the early nineties, the new regime in Addis Ababa faced a serious dilemma vis-à-vis the Ogaden cause. There was no alibi to use against the Struggle of the Ogaden Somalis for self-determination. There was no Somali government to blame. A democratic wind was blowing all across the world. Even while ONLF was testing the claim of the new regime of Meles Zenawi that self-determination is attainable through peaceful means, Meles was preparing his scapegoats against the Ogaden Somalis by encouraging the creation of religious organizations such as Itihad-Al-Islam in the Ogaden. He then provoked Al-Itihad-Islam, to take arms against his regime. Furthermore, Meles started dangling the religious card and started claiming that he was fighting Muslim fundamentalists. This gave him the pretext to attack ONLF and dismantle the peaceful political process that was unfolding in the Ogaden.

Despite the regime's efforts to paint itself as championing the cause of uprooting Muslim fundamentalism in the horn, neither the international community nor the different African nations in Ethiopia that were victims of Meles's dictatorial regime bought into his rhetoric. Somalis, Oromos, Amhars, afars, Sidamas and Even his Tigrai tribe, who were tired of dictators pitying them against each and keeping them in perpetual poverty and at war were approaching each other and charting peaceful routes to end the senseless carnage, lack of representative governance and denial of rights of peoples by dictators.

ONLF believes in the right of all nations to self-determination, the rule of law and representative government that comes through democratic practice and one person one vote and the separation of religion and government. The Ogaden Somali people are Muslims and have a right to practice their religion peacefully without prejudice to any other religion or group. ONLF uses defensive combat to defend itself against the Meles militias and the Ogaden people and does not conduct or condone any terrorist act against anybody. ONLF does not have any agendas outside its borders and does not undertake any armed action outside its borders.

ONLF laments the senseless waste of human lives perpetrated by successive Ethiopian regimes and believes that it is in the best interest of all people inside Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa to resolve differences through dialogue and peaceful negotiations. This is possible only if the regime in power decides to stop the endless cycle of violence that it always opts for in or order to deal with political dissent and learn the civilised way of conflict resolution. ONLF bears no grudge against any people in Ethiopia and regards them as their African brothers and knows that the responsibility of the victimisation of the Ogaden people rests solely with the successive Ethiopian regimes. ONLF will pursue the rights of the Ogaden Somalis and will spare no effort in trying to find a peaceful solution to the Ogaden problem regardless of the constant aggression from the regime in Addis Ababa. ONLF will engage all forces in Ethiopia and will take part in any effort that leads to a change in the current situation in Ethiopia regardless of political differences as long as the other parties are ready to forgo any bias and come with open mind that can tolerate differences.

As ONLF has stated in its press release ( http://www.onlf.org/pressAug062006.htm ) regarding the invasion and occupation of Somalia by Meles, It believes that the current adventurism of Meles brings more harm than good to the whole region of the Horn of Africa. Both the Somali people and the peoples of Ethiopia have succeeded in putting behind the hatchets provided by self-serving regimes that disregarded them and wasted their youngsters in the hundreds of thousands. For the first time the African people in Horn of Africa, especially the peoples in both Ethiopia and Somalia were basking in new found brotherliness and cessation of hostilities as peoples but unfortunately the current debacle by Ethiopia has created suspicion and fear among all communities in the Horn of Africa. Meles Zenawi, who failed to adhere to the rule of law and keep power by democratic means, had opted for violence inside and outside Ethiopia, instead of solving the age old problems that he inherited and ushering a new era of peace in the Horn of Africa. Creating outside enemies and threats is an old Machiavellian ploy that is familiar throughout history, and blaming and attacking government- less Somalia has become an easy target for Meles after failing to quell internal rebellion from the Ethiopian people or defeating the Liberation fronts. Despite the utterances of some leaders of the Islamic courts, there was no Somali force capable of threatening Ethiopia's security. It was clear to all reasonable people with no vested interests in the Horn of Africa, the claim that IC forces, composed of volunteer youths and elderly businessmen, with informal ties to different clan militias whose interests often conflicted one another could mount any meaningful campaign against the battle seasoned and well armed Ethiopian army. The haste with which Meles rushed to instigate this aggression and capture Somalia shows how desperate he is to divert attention from his internal failures.

ONLF deeply regrets the turn of events in Somalia and strongly urges that The Somali people should be left alone to find a viable solution to their problems. The meddling of Ethiopia and other forces at different times has kept the Somali people apart. Every time that a just solution posses itself, unwarranted interference exacerbates the situation and throws everything back to square one.

The people of Somalia are the sole determinants of who their legitimate representative is. It is not the place of the ONLF to determine this for them. The ONLF has said on multiple occasions that Ethiopia is determined to undermine the sovereignty of Somalia and frustrate efforts aimed at achieving peace and a lasting reconciliation in Somalia . The ONLF bears no ill will toward any Somali political party, organization or the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).We are not a party to the Somali conflict and encourage all the respective political entities in Somalia to reconcile their differences for the sake of their nation. We believe that the TPLF led regime in power in Ethiopia has repeatedly violated the arms embargo on Somalia by arming various actors thereby encouraging continued conflict among Somalis for over a decade. We call Ethiopia to respect the UN resolution and withdraw from Somalia immediately.

ONLF believes that the use of force to bring change in Somalia will only exacerbate the situation and the only way forward is peaceful dialogue between all concerned parties without the interference of external actors. The last thirty years provides barometers that show force does not work in Somalia. We strongly advice the TFG and other Somali organisations to bury their hatchet and solve their differences through dialogue. We strongly urge the international community to force Ethiopia out of Somalia and help the warring parties commence dialogue in neutral venue far away from the Horn of Africa.

ONLF would like to draw the attention of the international community to the fact that an ethnic cleansing of the Ogaden people has started in Somalia , Kenya and Ethiopia . Although ONLF is a pan Somali clan that represents all Somalis in the Ogaden, The current Ethiopian regime targets the Ogaden people, which it considers as the backbone of the armed struggle against its forces in Ethiopia . Mr. Zenawi's regime has consistently been abusing and systematically conducting pogroms in the Ogaden against this people for the last fifteen years and now that it got access to Somalia , all the Ogaden refugees in Somalia are being branded as terrorists and hunted down mercilessly. It is not the first time that Ogaden refugees were massacred and with no recourse to justice. In 1991 when the Somali government fell half a million Ogaden refugees were left at the mercy of the marauding crowds in Somalia and many were mercilessly massacred in Northern and central Somalia, and the UN under whose protection they were supposed to be, abandoned them to their fate and never even took the trouble to mention their demise. Now that the same fate is repeating itself, again as usual, the international community is again watching the repeat of the same calamity for members of the Ogaden Somalis. Even the Kenyan government is now participating in collecting Somalis from the Ogaden who are fleeing The Ethiopians across the Somali border and turning them over to Ethiopia as has happened recently. Kenya turned over to the 'Transitional government of Somalia ' five people from Ogadenia who were immediately transferred to Addis Ababa . This blatant violation of their human rights heralds a new trend that can be equated with what happened to the Jews in Europe in the Second World War- a pogrom of the Ogaden people in the Horn of Africa ! We appeal to the international community to avert this disaster in the making as it would not be of any value lamenting in hindsight as is the custom nowadays.

We particularly ask the UN, United States, AU, EU and Arab league to intervene in time and take this issue seriously in order to avert a catastrophe in the making against a poor stateless and voiceless nomadic people whose rights is being trampled over without recourse to any justice from any quarter.

Finally we take this opportunity to stress that ONLF is the sole legitimate representative of the people of Ogaden. No political organization originating from the Somali Republic has the authority to speak for the people of Ogaden, or mount any meaningful action in the Ogaden; ONLF has a principled stand against any interference from any quarter in the affairs of the Ogaden Somali people. The destiny of Ogaden people resides with no other people than themselves. Also we would take this opportunity to remind any Government in Somalia and the international community that Ogaden Somali people are an integral part of the Somali Nation in the Horn of Africa and any ruler who ignores or transgresses against the rights of the Ogaden Somalis is building phantom castles in the air. It is unfortunate that the fate of Somalia and the Ogaden are intertwined, as fear of Ogaden success always drives Ethiopia to victimise Somalia and the Somali people. It is time that the international community look seriously into the root cause of the never ending cycle of violence between Somalia and Ethiopia which is the Ogaden Cause and address it in a just and viable way.

The status quo which has been unchanged for decades brought nothing but misery to all concerned.

May Justice Prevail! i wish my beloved land Peace and Prosperity..

The Ogaden War 1977-1978

State entry Exit combat force population Losses
Cuba 1975 1987 15000 8700000 2000
Ethiopia 1964 1987 217000 42000000 15000
Rebels 1964 1987 50000 1000000 5000
Somalia 1964 1987 50000 5000000 15000

The SNA"Somalia National Army" never recovered from its defeat in the Ogaden War. The battles to retake and then defend the Ogaden stripped the Somali armed forces of many troops, much of their equipment, and their Soviet patron. For the next decade, the SNA sought unsuccessfully to improve its capability by relying on a variety of foreign sources, including the United States. The Ogaden War therefore remains the best example of the SNA's ability to mount and sustain conventional military operations.
Before the Ogaden War, the most striking feature of the 23,000-man SNA had been its large armored force, which was equipped with about 250 T-34 and T-54/T-55 Soviet-built medium tanks and more than 300 armored personnel carriers. This equipment gave the SNA a tank force more than three times as large as Ethiopia's. The prewar SAF also was larger than Ethiopia's air force. In 1976 the SAF had fifty-two combat aircraft, twenty-four of which were Soviet-built supersonic MiG21s . Facing them was an Ethiopian Air Force (EAF) of thirty-five to forty aircraft. Ethiopia also was in the process of acquiring several United States-built Northrop F-5 fighters from Iran. At the outbreak of fighting, Ethiopia had approximately sixteen F5A /Es.
After the Somali government committed the SNA to the Ogaden, the conflict ceased to be a guerrilla action and assumed the form of a conventional war in which armor, mechanized infantry, and air power played decisive roles. The SNA quickly adapted its organization to battlefield realities. The centralized Somali logistics system controlled supplies at battalion level (600- to 1,000-man units) from Mogadishu, an unwieldy arrangement given Somalia's limited transportation and communications network. To facilitate operations, the logistics center and headquarters for forces fighting in the northern Ogaden moved to Hargeysa, the SNA's northern sector headquarters. Before the war, all Somali ground forces had been organized into battalions. After the conflict started, however, the standard infantry and mechanized infantry unit became the brigade, composed of two to four battalions and having a total strength of 1,200 to 2,000 personnel.
Somalia's greatest victory occurred in mid-September 1977 in the second attempt to take Jijiga, when three tank battalions overwhelmed the Ethiopian garrison. After inflicting some heavy losses on Somali armor, Ethiopian troops mutinied and withdrew from the town, leaving its defense to the militia, which was incapable of slowing the Somali advance. The Ethiopians retreated beyond the strategic Marda Pass, the strongest defensive position between Jijiga and Harer, leaving the SNA in a commanding position within the region. Despite this success, several factors prevented a Somali victory. Somali tank losses had been heavy in the battles around Dire Dawa and Jijiga. Moreover, because the EAF had established air superiority over the SAF, it could harass overextended Somali supply lines with impunity. The onset of the rainy season hampered such air attacks; however, the bad weather also bogged down Somali reinforcements on the dirt roads.

After watching Ethiopian events in 1975-76, the Soviet Union concluded that the revolution would lead to the establishment of an authentic Marxist-Leninist state and that, for geopolitical purposes, it was wise to transfer Soviet interests to Ethiopia. To this end, Moscow secretly promised the Derg military aid on condition that it renounce the alliance with the United States. Mengistu, believing that the Soviet Union's revolutionary history of national reconstruction was in keeping with Ethiopia's political goals, closed down the U.S. military mission and the communications centre in April 1977. In September, Moscow suspended all military aid to the aggressor, began openly to deliver weapons to Addis Ababa, and reassigned military advisers from Somalia to Ethiopia. This Soviet volte-face also gained Ethiopia important support from North Korea, which trained a People's Militia, and from Cuba and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, which provided infantry, pilots, and armoured units. By March 1978, Ethiopia and its allies regained control over the Ogaden.

Mengistu's government was unable to resolve the Eritrean problem, however, and expended large amounts of wealth and manpower on the conflict while rebellion spread to other parts of Ethiopia. Similarly, Siyaad proved unable to return the Ogaden to Somalian rule, and the people grew restive; in northern Somalia, rebels destroyed administrative centres and took over major towns. Both Ethiopia and Somalia had followed ruinous socialist policies of economic development, and they were unable to surmount droughts and famines that afflicted the Horn during the 1980s. In 1988 Siyaad and Mengistu agreed to withdraw their armies from possible confrontation in the Ogaden..

OGADENIA

Ogaden (pronounced and often spelled Ogadēn) is the international name of the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia. The inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Somali and Muslim. The title "Somali Galbeed", which means "Western Somalia," is often preferred by some Somalis.

The region, which is around 400,000 square kilometres, borders Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia.[1] Important towns include Jigjiga, Awbere, Degehabur, (Dhagaxbuur in Somali), Gode (Godey), Jijiga (Jigjiga), Kebri Dahar (Qabridahare), Fiq, Shilavo (Shilaabo), Kelafo, and Werder (Wardheer).

The Ogaden is a plateau, with an elevation above sea level that ranges from 1,500 meters in the northwest, falling to about 300 meters along the southern limits and the Wabi Shebelle valley. The areas with altitudes between 1400 and 1600 meters are characterized as semi-arid, receiving as much as 500-600 mm of rainfall annually. More typical of the Ogaden is an average annual rainfall of 350 mm and less. The landscape consists of dense shrubland, bush grassland and bare hills.[2] In more recent years, the Ogaden has suffered from increasingly erratic rainfall patterns, which has led to an increasing frequency of major droughts: in 1984-85; 1994; and most recently in 1999-2000, during which pastoralists claim to have lost 70-90 per cent of their cattle.
History
Ogaden was part of the Muslim Ifat Sultanate in the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries. The borders of the sultanate extended to the Shewa - Addis Ababa area. The region developed its own Adal kingdom from late 14th to the last quarter of the 19th century. There was an ongoing conflict between the Adal kingdom and the Christian Kingdom of Abyssinia throughout this time. During the first half of the 16th century, most Abyssinian territory came under the rule of Adal, when Imam Ahmed Gurey, the leader of Adal's Army, took control.

During the last quarter of the 19th century, the region was conquered by Menelik II and Ethiopia solidified their occupation by treaties in 1897.

I.M. Lewis argues a subtly different interpretation of this treaty, emphasizing that "the lost lands in the Haud which were excised from the Protectorate [i.e. British Somalialand] were not, however ceded to Ethiopia".[6] In practice, Ethiopia exerted little administrative control east of Jijiga until 1934 when an Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission attempted to demarcate the treaty boundary. This boundary is still violently disputed.

The region was annexed to Italian Somaliland in 1936 by Italy, after their conquest of Ethiopia. Following their conquest of Italian East Africa, the British sought to let the Ogaden be unified with British Somaliland and the former Italian Somaliland, to realize Greater Somalia which was supported by many Ogaden Somalis.[8] Ethiopia unsuccessfully pleaded before the London Conference of the Allied Powers to gain the Ogaden and Eritrea in 1945, but their persistent negotiations and pressure from the USA eventually persuaded the British in 1948 to abandon all of the Ogaden except for the Haud, and a corridor called the Reserved Area stretching from the Haud to French Somaliland (modern Djibouti). The British returned these last parts to Ethiopia in 1954.

In the late 1970s, internal unrest in the Ogaden resumed. The Western Somali Liberation Front, spurred by Muktal Dahir, used guerrilla tactics to resist Ethiopian rule. Ethiopia and Somalia fought the Ogaden War over control of this region and its peoples.

In 2007, the Ethiopian Army launched a military crackdown in Ogaden. The main rebel group is the Ogaden National Liberation Front under its Chairman Mohamed O. Osman, which is fighting against what they see as an Ethiopian occupation. Somalis who inhabit Ogaden claim that Ethiopian military kill and torture civilians, destroy the livelihood of many of the ethnic Somalis and commit crimes against the nomads in the region. [10] Numerous international rights organizations accuse Ethiopian regime of committing abuses and crimes that "violate laws of war,"[11] as a recent report by the Human Rights Watch indicates. [12] According to US House of Representatives committee, the Ethiopia has killed people, tortured civilians and committed crimes against the nomads in the region.

O.N.L.F

Introduction

The Horn of Africa has been marked by struggle for decades. Behind some of the violence, including an April 2007 attack on a Chinese oil rig in Ethiopia, is the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). The ONLF, a group of ethnic Somali nationalists based in eastern Ethiopia, takes up the banner of past groups seeking self-governance for ethnic Somalis throughout the region. Their attacks threaten the delicate stability of the region and could set off a new chill on much-needed foreign investment.
What is the Ogaden National Liberation Front?
The ONLF describes itself as a “grassroots social and political movement” that serves as an “advocate for and defender of” Somalis in Ogaden, a region of eastern Ethiopia with a large ethnic Somali population, against Ethiopian regimes. Founded in 1984 by members of a variety of ethnic Somali liberation groups, it can also be described as a separatist rebel group fighting to make Ogaden an independent state. Its main tactics include countering government influence in the region and using violent force, including kidnappings and bombings. The ONLF is believed to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of government forces. ONLF supporters say the group does not use bombing as a tactic and has a policy of deliberately not targeting civilians in its military operations. While some experts consider the ONLF’s activities terrorism, the U.S. State Department does not include the OLNF on its Foreign Terrorist Organization list and the group is not on similar lists maintained by the European Union and Britain.
How was the ONLF formed?
The ONLF formed in the wake of the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF), which lost the support of Somalis living in Ogaden after the 1977-1978 war in which Ethiopia crushed Somali government forces attempting to gain control of areas with large ethnic Somali populations. WSLF members helped found the ONLF and then recruited their former colleagues to join them. By the time the WSLF was disbanded, the ONLF had gained increased support among ethnic Somalis residing in Ethiopia. In 1991, the ONLF joined the political process, and performed well in regional parliamentary elections. The group’s political wing later merged with another political party to form the Somali People’s Democratic Party, which remains a powerful political force in the region.
What does the ONLF want?
The ONLF is a nationalist movement that seeks self-determination for ethnic Somalis in the Ogaden region. This is in contrast to other national movements in the Horn of Africa, which have sought to create a “Greater Somalia” in which all areas populated by Somalis are unified into one country. The ONLF also claims that the Ethiopian government has committed human rights abuses in the Ogaden, including interfering with relief work and international aid intended for the area, and that it wants retribution. Ethiopian officials have repeatedly denied such charges and allege the ONLF is responsible for the abuses.
What has the ONLF done?
The ONLF has instigated ambushes and guerrilla-style raids against Ethiopian troops since its inception, and has kidnapped foreign workers presumed to be agents or supporters of Ethiopia’s government. It has launched attacks on Ethiopian military convoys, and it has been accused of bombings in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. A particularly fierce dispute has long simmered between the central government and ONLF over the presence of energy companies in the region; the ONLF insists it will not allow the exploration of oil and gas in the area until the region gains independence, and threatens foreign companies that try. Tensions over the issue reached a new high on April 24, 2007, when ONLF gunmen killed at least seventy-four people, including sixty-five Ethiopians and nine Chinese oil workers, and kidnapped seven, on an oil field in Abole, a remote region of Ethiopia populated by ethnic Somalis. China has attempted to increase its investments in Africa in an effort to secure future energy supplies. The ONLF took responsibility for the attack on its website and claimed that the violence had not been without warning.
Should the United States worry about the ONLF?
The ONLF is not on any of the U.S. State Department terrorist lists, and as it stands now it does not pose a threat to the United States. However, Ethiopia is Washington’s closest ally in the region, and should the United States ever decide to intervene in the conflict on behalf of Ethiopia, or any other country that wants to drill for oil there, it could face violent opposition. Additionally, there have been rumors of ties between the ONLF and al-Qaeda, which would involve the United States in an entirely different manner. ONLF supporters deny any link with al-Qaeda and criticize religiously motivated violence.

THE BIOGRAPHY OF LATE "Dr IBRAHIM ABDALLe MAAX"MAY ALLAH HAVE MAERCY ON HIM"

HIS EARLY LIFE

Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalle Mohamed "Mah" was born in the "Oil-Rich" but long time war-ravaged Ogaden region, at the historic town of Kallafo, in 1941 to a middle class family. He memorised the Holy Kur'an by heart at a very young age in the shanty village of Bargun. He also studied the rudimentary rules of the Islamic theology, the basic principles of Islam, and the calligraphy and graphology of the Arabic script under the tutelage of a dugsi, a locally administered Somali-style Islamic propagation centre.

HIS BASIC SECULAR ACADEMIC CAREER

Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalle began his basic education in Kallafo, whereupon, he did his lower and upper primary schooling. After his outsmarting completion of the primary level, he left for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for further studies in 1958 on foot. After performing his pilgrimage, he started secondary school in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On successfully finishing high school, he joined the internationally acclaimed Imam Mohamed Bin Saud University in the Holy City of Mecca in 1967. Graduating from the faculty of Islamic Sharia, he obtained his baccalaureate - bachelor degree (BA) IN 1970. It was reported that the deceased was a noted bookish and an avid reader during his stay at the university, and that is where his studious journey of life time student of history started.

JOB EXPERIENCE

on finishing his university studies, he came back to his beloved homeland, Ogaden, to shoo away the boiling nostalgia that evicted him from the Kindom of Saudi Arabia; and he became a teacher in the crops-rich city of Godey early seventies. After working as a teacher for a short period of time, he was promoted to the posts of education inspector and the head of the Teachers Union in Godey. The bodily perished and the theoretically living Somali Ogaden thinker, Mah, went to the then independent Democratic republic of Somalia in 1973 and on his arrival at Mogadishu, he was taken by the ministry of education as a secondary school teacher, whereby he was located in Hargeisa, the second capital city of Somalia.

HIS MIDDLE LIFE AS A FREEDOM FIGHTER

He resigned from the educational assignments that he was holding for Somalia and joined Western Somali Liberation Front in 1976, activating the military and political philosophy of the then Somali-backed movement, WSLF, under the auspices of the late dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre. After a short while, the lost hero, Sheikh Ibrahim, became an active member of WSLF central committee through all-agreed election. He was sent to Abu Dhabi in 1981, as a diplomatic representative for Western Somali Liberation Front.

After the sheer military and political abortion of WSLF as a result of the direct military intervention of Somali armed forces, sheikh Ibrahim co-founded Ogaden National Liberation Front in 1984. In 1991, he was elected the chairman of ONLF and he had been holding that post till 1998. February 1994, Sheikh Ibrahim narrowly escaped from an assassination attempt by Ethiopian battalion based in Warder. He was defended by the people of Warder with the help of ONLF fighters scouting him, and, many Ethiopian soldiers and almost 100 civilians from Warder died because of him. It was reported that Sheikh Ibrahim took part in some of the deadliest armed confrontations between ONLF battalion and Ethiopian garrison in the war-torn Ogaden. Some tidings said that he acted field commander in the front line to give his soldiers moral support.

HIS MARITAL STATUS

Sheikh Ibrahim married three wives and he is survived by four sons and four daughters with a group of grand-children living in Nairobi, UK and the USA.

HIS PERSONALITY

Sheikh Ibrahim was a charismatic born-leader with adamant political objectives. He was an outspoken Islamic scholar and a profound patriot who believed in death for the sake of his country and in the defense of his Islamic belief. He was an honest and God-fearing man. He was a great ideologue yarning for Arab unity and Somalis nicknamed him "The pro-Arab campaigner in the Horn of Africa." He was a confident and firm freedom-fighter longing for the martyrdom of his targeted mission under any circumstance.
My first and last meeting with him in Khartoum by the end of 2006, I put the following question to him, "Ethiopia has got one of the strongest armies in Africa and your fighting with it prolonged the suffering of the Ogaden citizens. Are you capable of vanquishing this powerful and regular force? If not so, why don't you negotiate with the government, Ethiopia?" Sheikh Ibrahim smiled and replied to me, "My NO TO ETHIOPIAN COLONISATION is stronger than the strong armed forces that you mentioned. We have gallant and stronger fighters than theirs, and, we are ready to fight them to the end till they peacefully withdraw from our homeland - Ogaden. Our brave and patient people can't accept the oligarchic colonial rule of the up-starts - the minority Tigtay, under the despotic and autocratic instruction of the callow leadership of Mr Zenawi."

HIS AUTHORSHIP

He was one of the greatest historians in Africa and the finest writers in Arabic language. He was an astute political scientist and a broad-minded researcher on African and Arabian political history. He was a hot political analyst; and an author of heaps of articles on different Arabic magazines and daily newspapers in the Middle East. He wrote over five books on African regional crises and he was now working on a linguistical analysis book about the lexicological interrelations between Arabic and Somali languages. Moreover, he currently finished a book he named "The War on Maps in The Horn of Africa" which is waiting for posthumous publication.

HIS LATER LIFE

Sheikh Ibrahim Abdalle was the head of "The Horn of Africa Research and Strategic Studies Centre" in Abu Dhabi that he founded in 1999. He was also a member of ONLF central committee and the spiritual leader of the above mentioned separatist rebel movement waging war against Ethiopia for the complete independence of Ogaden region. He died in Abu Dhabi on 22 June 2008. He was buried in Abu Dhabi on 24 June 2008. According to postmortem examination, his death was natural

VIEWS OF THE OGADEN PEOPLE UNDER ETHIOPIAN COLONISM

BACKGROUND

The Ogaden Somali territory lies between Oromia to the West, Afar land to the Northwest, the Republic of Djibouti to the north, Kenya to the south and The Somali Republic to the east.

Somali agro-pastorals people with a single language, culture, and socio-economic structure inhabit the Ogaden territory.
The Ogaden Somali people were free, independent and powerful until colonial powers from overseas came to Africa and started arming the Abyssinian chiefs in the north of present day Ethiopia.

The Abyssinians using the arms and expertise provided by the colonialists captured Harar in 1884 and started raiding Ogaden Somali villages in that area, killing the men and selling women and children as slaves.

The Ogaden Somalis resisted vehemently the encroachment of the Abyssinian expansionists and succeeded in halting their advance. Even though the Abyssinian military campaign to conquer the rest of the Somali territory failed, the colonial powers recognised its claim over the Ogaden Somaliland and signed treaties with them.From 1886 to 1948, Abyssinia (renaming itself Ethiopia) waged a constant war of conquest against the Somalis but failed in gaining any further foothold in the Ogaden.

In 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia and captured it along with the Ogaden and the territories of other nations in the area. Then the British defeated Italy in the Horn of Africa in 1941, and it administered the Ogaden for eight years until it transferred the first part of the Ogaden (Jigjiga area) to Ethiopia (the Abyssinians) for the first time. The next parts were transferred in 1954 and 1956. Thus, Ethiopia gained the control over the Ogaden without the knowledge or consent of the Ogaden Somalis. From that time onward, successive Ethiopian regimes mercilessly suppressed the Ogaden people and whenever the liberation movements seriously weakened and threatened Ethiopian colonialism, a foreign power directly intervened to re-establish its colonial rule over the Ogaden.

Ethiopia since the beginning of this century and up to now has been characterised by one nation using the powers of state to subjugate and exploit all the other nations within that artificial system. For almost one century, the Abyssinians are abusing the concept of sovereignty and statehood to deprive the rights of other people living under the rule of the artificial state of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is a state founded on colonial doctrine and bases its rule on the use of force and emergency measures for oppressing the majority of the people and exploiting them. Ethiopia claims that African borders inherited from colonialism should be left intact and it inherited the Ogaden territory from the colonial powers. At the same time, Ethiopia is boasting to be the only African state that was never colonised. This means that Ethiopia has been a participating partner with the colonial powers that divided Africa among themselves but has never relinquished its colonial possessions.

To maintain such a colonial state, the rulers had to build a massive military machine and embark on forcefully maintaining one of the most vicious authoritarian rules in the third world. The resultant resistance from the people and the inevitable taxing of material and moral resources of the oppressing elite became Ethiopia Achilles’ hill and brought about the downfall of its successive regimes. The relentless resistance of the colonised nations and the consequential resource drainage brought down both the rules of Haille Sellassie and the military Junta of Mengistu.

THE CURRENT REGIME IN ETHIOPIA

After the fall of Mengistu Haille Mariam, EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front - the new name adopted by the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front to camouflage it’s narrow ethnic base and rule Ethiopia, succeeded in capturing Addis Ababa with the help of Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF).
Although most of the nations under Ethiopian colonial rule contributed to the weakening and downfall of the Ethiopian Politico- military machine, specially the Ogaden Somali people who not only played a major role but also involved their brethren across the border from the Somali Republic, TPLF captured the seat of power and succeeded in gaining international recognition.

At first the new Ethiopian rulers feeling weak and aware of the international climate and the demise of totalitarian regimes and the era of colonialism, forwarded a reasonable and plausible program for addressing the burning issue of Ethiopian colonialism and its solution through recognising and granting the right of nations to self-determination through a peaceful process.
EPRDF offered the charter program, which recognised the right of nations to self-determination up to cessation and stated that a transitional period of two years has to relapse before the nations could exercise that right. Thus, EPRDF recognised the colonial nature of Ethiopia in principle.

The Ogadenia National Liberation Front (ONLF), considering the burden of the long struggle of the Ogaden Somali people and cognisant of the priceless value of resolving the long standing conflict between Ethiopia and the Ogaden people through peaceful means decided to give chance to peace and avert a costly and unnecessary war
.
But before the ink was dry, it became obvious to ONLF that EPRDF was only buying time and was lying the ground for keeping intact the colonial legacy it inherited and was scheming to attain the submission of the Ogaden Somalis to it colonial rule through demagogy and token democracy. EPRDF grossly miscalculated the gravity and depth of the Ogaden Ethiopian problem.

EPRDF blinded by its sudden and unexpected victory and the temporary absence of challenge and armed opposition from The Ogadenia National Liberation Front grossly miscalculated the severity and gravity of the conflict between the Ogaden people and Ethiopia and the unbending desire of the Ogaden Somalis to regain their usurped sovereignty and independence. EPRDF, forgetful of the bitter experience of its people under the previous rulers and despite its rhetoric of being committed to democracy and the rule of law and respecting the right of nations began the construction of its politico-military structures for maintaining the colonial empire of its predecessors.

Hence, all people concerned in ending the long-standing conflict lost an excellent opportunity and EPRDF planted the seeds of the next cycle of bloodshed and violence in the region. It started trying to divide the Ogaden Somali people and undermine the leading role of ONLF by creating pseudo-organisations based on tribal lines. At the same time, it spread its intelligence network and military garrisons all over the Ogaden. In early 1992, the EPRDF government masterminded the killing of several ONLF officials, including some members belonging to the Front’s Central Committee.
Then EPRDF attacked the headquarters of ONLF in an effort to wipe it out but withdrew after sustaining high casualties and postponed its plans.
In spite of all the intrigues and harassment of EPRDF, ONLF and the Ogaden Somalis persisted in avoiding confrontation and continued rebuilding their political and administrative institutions.

In September 1992, the Ogaden people went to the polls to cast their votes in a free and fair election, for the first time in their long history, to elect their district councils and representatives for the regional parliament. EPRDF strongly campaigned for its surrogate parties and members, but in a landslide victory, the ONLF won about 84% of the seats in the newly elected regional parliament.

In mid-1993, the regional government complained to the government in Addis Ababa about its flagrant interference in the day-to-day affairs of the Ogaden region, an act that contradicted the commitment to regional autonomy and devolution of power to the regions.
EPRDF retaliated by freezing the regional budget, diverting international aid, discouraging international Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) to work in the Ogaden, as well as obstructing all initiatives, and projects deemed necessary for the development of the region. In late 1993, the Ethiopian security forces arrested the president, vice-president and secretary of the Regional Assembly, and it transferred them to prison in Addis Ababa. EPRDF released them after ten months without trail.

Finally, when EPRDF established its legitimacy as the government of Ethiopia in the eyes of the international community, and its military and economic resources was enhanced, it felt confident enough to mount a military campaign against the Ogaden Somalis at the end of the transitional period.

Moreover, in order to get the raison d’être for its campaign of terror and subjugation of the Ogaden people, EPRDF dictated to ONLF and the Ogaden Somalis an unacceptable choice. In effect, EPRDF told the Ogaden Somalis to either endorse a compulsory constitution that would legalise the colonisation of the Ogaden people by Ethiopia and the participation in an election where their role would be to endorse EPRDF nominated candidates. EPRDF strategy was to deceive the Ogaden Somalis into sanctioning its colonial rule while at the same time eliminating themselves from the political structures it intended to maintain its hegemony over the nations and avert any future threat.

In addition, if the Ogaden Somalis oppose what it proposed, to get the motive for declaring war on the Ogaden people and extricate itself from honouring the pledges it entered in its moment of weakness and maintain the Ethiopian colonial legacy.

The Ogaden people, after deliberating on the moves and intentions of EPRDF and understanding the choices EPRDF was presenting to them—either to relinquish what they had fought for so long or to be trodden upon, decided that it was unacceptable to succumb to the designs of EPRDF and forgo the quest for their self-determination and freedom. A quest the Ogaden people had shed so much blood for and suffered so much.

Therefore, on 28 January 1994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, ONLF called for a referendum on self-determination and independence for the Ogaden. And on 22 February 1994, a cold-blood massacre took place in the town of Wardheer, where more than 81 unarmed civilians were killed by TPLF militias, who tried to kill or capture alive the chairman of the ONLF Mr. Ibrahim Abdalla Mohamed, who was addressing at that time a peaceful rally in the centre of the town.

In February 1994, the Regional Assembly passed a unanimous resolution in accordance with the Transitional Charter, demanding a referendum on self-determination and independence for the Ogaden people, under the auspices of international and regional bodies such as United Nations, Organization of African Unity, European Union, and other independent non-governmental organizations.

The EPRDF government in Addis Ababa reacted swiftly overthrowing and virtually disbanding all democratically elected institutions in the Ogaden, including the Regional Parliament. Like their predecessors, the president of the Regional Parliament, vice-president and several members of the parliament (MPs), were arrested and transferred to prison in Addis Ababa. Mass arrests and indiscriminate killings also took place.

On 17 April 1994, the Ethiopian government launched a large scale military offensive against ONLF positions and detained many suspected supporters of ONLF and on 28 April 1994, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, the then TPLF defence minister Saye Abraha claimed that all resistance movements in the Ogaden had been destroyed and stamped out.

In a petition addressed to the president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), the elders of the Ogaden asked the Ethiopian government to stop the military offensive against the Ogaden people, and seek a peaceful dialogue to resolve the conflict, instead of opting for a military solution, which complicates the already explosive situation.

In May 1994, the EPRDF government sponsored a new surrogate party called Ethiopian Somali Democratic League (ESDL), which is a version of People’s Democratic Organizations (PDO), which exists throughout Ethiopia within the EPRDF framework.

The first congress of ESDL was held in Hurso under the patronage of the then prime minister of TGE Tamirat Layne (now eliminated also), who appointed a member of the ruling EPRDF coalition as a chairman of the new pro-government party.

On 25 January 1995, the EPRDF government hastily arranged a meeting in the town of Qabridaharre to convince the ONLF to participate in the upcoming federal and regional elections. The meeting, which was chaired by the then president Meles Zenawi (the current prime minister), failed when EPRDF refused to allow independent arbitrators to participate in a negotiated settlement.

After that the ONLF, broke off all contacts with the EPRDF government, closed down its office in Addis Ababa and boycotted elections in 1995.
Since 20 April 1994, combatants of the ONLF and Ethiopian forces are fighting bloody battles and Ethiopia is vehemently denying the engagements with the liberation forces. Certainly, the ongoing struggle for self-determination and independence in the Ogaden continues to cause inhuman sufferings and are the basis of instability and tragedy in the Horn of Africa.

The 1991 Charter and the new Constitution, which Ethiopia espoused on 8 December 1994, guaranteed, as EPRDF claimed, the secession of a people if they are, “Convinced that their rights are abridged or abrogated”.

In addition, the process of negating that the rights of the Ogaden Somali people is constantly abrogated proved too costly to the ruling junta in Addis Ababa.

The tyrannical regime in Ethiopia started a campaign of propaganda and public relation stunt in order to convince the international community of it democratic and liberal nature and to legitimise its continued presence in the Ogaden after the people requested to exercise their right to self determination and announced that it was conducting elections in the Ogaden.

The Ogaden people thwarted its attempts but never the less it announced that the elections were held and its bogus surrogates had won the seats in the Ogaden. At the same time to further cloak its treachery, it formed its own ONLF party and unashamedly declared that ONLF had taken part in its sham elections. This was a clear indicator of its lack of confidence and inability to hide its failure to control the Ogaden.

From that time onwards, Ethiopia has been moulding and remoulding it sham representatives in the Ogaden, the so-called parties and Ogaden parliament, more than five times but up to this day Ethiopia is unable to manage the situation.

After failing to intimidate the Ogaden Somalis to go along with its colonial program, EPRDF has embarked on a war of attrition with ONLF and indiscriminate and inhuman tyranny against the Ogaden people. The Ethiopian army (EPRDF militia’s) killed, imprisoned or looted thousands of civilians. Hundreds of women were raped and for the first time in the history of the Ogaden people, male children were raped.

But the new Ethiopian colonial state headed by EPRDF has used every trick in the books of colonial strategy but failed to obliterate the armed national struggle of the Ogaden People and has been forced to occupy only the major towns and move in heavily armed convoys.

Then Ethiopia frantically resorted to human rights violations such as killings, imprisonments, forced conscription, exiling, intimidation and harassment, suppression of basic democratic rights which highlight the suffering of the peoples. The regime's policies of systematic underdevelopment include economic sabotage, irresponsible plunder of resources with no regard to sustainability of the environmental, denial of education opportunities, socio-cultural dismantling and subjection to conflict-ridden political and administrative structures.

Moreover in the Ogaden, EPRDF forces and Tigrean dealers, who have been given concessions and game-licences by the Ethiopian government, which is dominated by ethnic Tigreans, are devastating the poor and the fragile ecological balance by widespread exploitation and depletion of forests for military purposes, firewood and charcoal. The rich wildlife, including big game, game birds, forests and water resources has all suffered irreparable damage in the Ogaden under the Ethiopian government.

After it became obvious to EPRDF that it could not destroy the national resistance of the people and that it was gaining momentum, EPRDF following the strategies of its predecessors attacked stateless Somalia and captured three regions. Ethiopia is intending to find scapegoats to blame for its failure in subduing the Ogaden people and their rejection of its colonial lust, divert attention and in a bid to maintain its credibility both inside and outside Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is also actively engaged in sabotaging the reconciliation of the Somali people and building of a Somali state. At the same time, Ethiopia is hosting summits for the Somali leaders and is posing as a mentor to the Somali people and collecting funds from the UN on that issue.

The Ethiopian destabilisation plan is not limited to the Somali nation. Ethiopia attacked Eritrea on the pretext of retaking two Eritrean territories but in reality is intent in recapturing Eritrea and colonising it again, but Ethiopia received from Eritrea lessons it did not bargain for. Ironically, the Ethiopian government, which violates the very basic human rights of all citizens in the empire-state of Ethiopia, including the Ogaden Somalis, and wages wars against its neighbours, poses itself as a champion of Democracy and Human Rights in Africa.

THE POSITION OF THE OGADEN SOMALIS

The Ogaden Somali people present the following summation of their views about Ethiopia:
Ethiopia has colonised the Ogaden people and is viciously continuing that colonial legacy in spite of the change of regime in Addis Ababa and the Ogaden people categorically state that the present regime of EPRDF is not different from the rule of it predecessors in substance.
The Ogaden people are a sovereign nation, have the right to be masters of their destiny, and are intent on actualising that right.

The Ogaden people will continue to struggle as long as the Ethiopian state remains intransigent to the rights and wishes and continue pursuing its inhuman oppressive policies.
The Ogaden people will not participate in the bogus elections Ethiopia periodically conducts as a public relations exercise to beguile the local and international communities and hide its colonial and authoritarian nature, nor will they be take part in its colonial administrative structures.
The Ogaden people calls upon the people of Ethiopia not to participate in the maniacal purges the current regime is perpetrating on the Ogaden people and become a party to the regime’s crime against humanity.

The Ogaden people calls upon the current EPRDF regime ruling Ethiopia to desist from its current militaristic and aggressive attitude and accept a peaceful negotiated settlement of the current conflict between the Ogaden people and Ethiopia with the participation of third neutral parties from the international community.

APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

The Ogaden people inform the international community that the Ethiopian government is violating their basic human rights and is systematically exterminating them. Ethiopia is being encouraged to commit this genocide against the Ogaden people by the lack of the international community censure over its human Rights violations, and holding its rulers responsible for the gross human rights, abuses perpetrated by its Army and Security Forces in the Ogaden.

The Ogaden people appeal to the international to recognise the colonial nature of Ethiopia and its brutal repression of the Ogaden people and hold it accountable for its acts. Furthermore, Ethiopia is using international aid for military and political programs directed at oppressing the Ogaden Somalis and other nations under it s colonial rule and in its expansionist policies against its neighbours.

Whenever its war coffers are depleted, Ethiopia appeals for international aid for natural disaster victims, at the same time Ethiopia has the means to attack two neighbouring states and maintain a huge colonial occupation army in the Ogaden, Oromia, Afar, Sidama and other territories of the oppressed nations. !

OGADENIA

Facts On Ogaden

The flag of Ogaden consists of green, blue and red horizontal stripes with a pentagonal white star in the centre of the blue stripe.

Flag's Emblems:


Green:
represents the fertility and richness of the land.

Blue:
stands for the dignity and integrity of the people.
Red:
symbolizes the continuity of the struggle for self-determination and freedom
The white star represents the commitment and unity of the people.Official Name: Ogaden (in Somali Ogaadeenya)
Location: In the East of Africa ( Horn of Africa)

Neighbors: Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia

Colony: Presently under the colony of Ethiopia

Area: 369 000 square kilometres (approximation)

Population: 5-6 million people

Division: 9 provinces; 48 districts

Capital City: Godey

National Anthem: Calanyahow (meaning “Oh Flag”)

Main Languages : Somali (official), Arabic, English

Main Religions: 99.9% practice Islam

Principal Rivers: Ganaane, Shabeele, Dawa

Natural Resources: Gold, copper, natural gas, petroleum
The Nine Provinces and 48 Districts of Ogaden:

PROVINCES

AFDHEER
DHAGAXBUUR
DOOLO
GODEY
JIGJIGA
LIIBAAN
NOGOB
QORAXEY
SHINIILE

DISTRICTS

Baarey
Awaare
Bookh
Aabaqarow
Awbare

Doolow
Fiiq
Dhoobaweyn

Ayshica
Ceelkari
Dhagaxbuur
Danood
Cadaadle
Dhagaxle


Filtu
Iimey
Qabri Dahare
Casbuli
Godcusbo
Dhagaxmadow


Galaadi
Dhanaan
Gursum
Mooyaale
Salaxaad
Shaygoosh

Dawanle
Hargeele
Gaashaamo

Qoriile
Feerfeer
Jigjiga
Nageyle
Sagag
Shilaabo

Diridhaba
Jarati
Wardheer
Godey
Qabri Bayax

Xamaro
Harar
Iimey(-da 2aad)
Wajaale
Shiniile
Mustaxiil
Xarshin
Qalaafe