SOMALI PEACE RALLY (Dire-dawa, November 30th 2002)

Somali Peace Rally – Despite the recent signing of cease fire amongst the Somali warlords at Eldoret, and notwithstanding the UN's embargo of weapon to Somalia, Col. Yusuf of Puntland is gearing up for new attack at the stronghold of his political enemies at Dhudo in Bari region of Puntland.

The Colonel who left Eldoret about a week ago obviously decided to wage a war against Dhudo where his former Comrade-in-arms, General Adde Musse has recently established a command post for consolidating the Anti-Yusuf resistance. General Adde is accompanied by distinguished military officers including Col. Ilkajiir. These new developments and the swelling of number of fighters in Dhudo worried the Colonel.

In the middle of this past week Col. Yusuf flew to Ethiopia in order to seek ammunition and other military assistance in order to extend his trade mark to the areas outside his brutal hegemony. Reportedly, Col. Yusuf asked his commanders in Gaalkacyo to send three N-3 Fiat trucks to Dire-dawa. The trucks will change their Somali plate numbers at Galladi, a border town, and will proceed to their destination with Ethiopian plate numbers. It is the same trucks that have hauled weapons continuously from Dire-dawa for the last few years.

The international community, including the UN team monitoring the violation of the ban on weapons to Somalia should take note of the Colonel's naked efforts to re-start a new bloodshed in Puntland. The relevant institutions should not pencil-totting teams to Puntland next year.

Somali Peace Rally (SPR) will closely monitor the Colonel's efforts to wreak havoc in a previously peaceful region. It is no secret that this dictator committed atrocities against human rights in Puntland, and this trend is expected to continue. SPR is condemning the new war drums in Puntland, and asking all parties involved in Somali affairs to be vigilant on the Colonel's new suicidal actions in Puntland and elsewhere.