Forward: Tribute to Gen. Tallan by Hamud Masheye
Abdirashid
A Shining Somali Star
General Yusuf Talan’s life was cut short by the bullets of two cold-blooded,
hired assassins, one armed with a pistol and the other AK-47, on October 18,
2000, in Mogadishu, Somali Republic. An eyewitness who was walking few steps
behind him told me by telephone, “ At first they grabbed his hands and tried
to kidnap him. When he refused to go with them, the assassin with the pistol
started shooting him but the General didn’t fall. At that moment the other
hired killer joined in and cut him down with a hail of bullets”.
It is a tragic loss to his family, his friends and the Somali nation and is
also a criminal act against the Somali civil society who for six months
tried to reconcile their difference and beating against all odds finally
succeeded in doing so. It is a tragic loss to every peace-loving individual
on earth.
This heinous act is a reminder that the merchants of death (the drug
magnates, the thugs, and the criminal warlords) who brought the Somali
state to its knees and have committed all kinds of war crimes against the
Somali people, will go to any length to keep the flames of hatred alive.
After all they are the ones who profit from the misery and the abject
poverty of the Somali people. To these criminals, a beacon of hope and a
flicker of light for the civilian population are troublesome hurdles
obstructing their path to a chimerical kingdom. To these thugs, an honest
person with conviction is nothing more than a stumbling block frustrating
their unshackled greed and blind ambitions. As a leading member of the
demobilization Committee, General Talan was the hope of the Somali nation
and a threat to the grandiose delusions of the immoral warlords.
A native of the Awdal province of the Somali Republic and a distinguished
member of the Gadaboursi clan, General Talan was a career soldier who loved
his profession. Trained at Sandhurst, Britain, he returned to the Somali
Republic in the early sixties. Henceforth, his life went hand in glove with
the fledgling Somali State and he served it with dignity, dedication and
selflessness. He went through the ranks of the military till he reached the
highest echelon of the military hierarchy. A Somali military officer once
told me that when Mr. Yusuf Talan was promoted to the rank of General, a
ceremony was held at the Center of the Military officers in Mogadishu to
formalize it. He said,” The military officers at there welcomed him with a
five minute standing ovation, a sharp contrast to the blatant disdain and
scorn that was meted out to the rest who were also promoted ”. In a country
were nepotism was common and were anybody without a guardian angel would be
left behind and bypassed by more junior officers, General Talan’s
appointment was meritorious. The standing ovation was a clear recognition of
his long service to the nation and an open protest against the military
institution that for years ignored him and denied him his rightful rung in
the military hierarchy.
General Talan was an upright man who never abused his power or misused it.
No body ever accused him of any wrongdoing, a rare thing in a country where
accusations and counter accusations abound. In the early nineties, he was in
the Somali Republic and wherever he went, he was welcomed. While in Canada,
with a clear conscious, he mingled with the Somalis and everybody respected
him. Indeed, he was a man of the people and a humble gentleman who loved
everybody and was loved by all.
On May 2nd, 2000, when the Somali national peace conference started at Arta,
Djibouti,
Engineer Abdikarim-Karim Egeh and I were privileged and honored to be his
roommates. We had plenty of time to chat and argue about politics and the
future of our country. But most of the time we listened to him. He had
plenty of information to tell and planned to write his autobiography in the
near future.
General Talan was a man imbuing with optimism and his soul was not tainted
by the brutal civil war in the Somali Republic. He never dwelled on the ugly
and gruesome events of the past and never talked of revenge. His words were
always laden with wisdom and responsibility and his cogent arguments often
persuaded his opponents.
General Talan’s lofty ideals were in sharp contrast to the degraded goals of
the short-sighted warlords who dismembered the Somali Republic into
hobbesian fiefdoms where life is short, brutish and nasty. In fact, he
understood clearly that clannish wars benefited no one and that today’s
apparent victors are tomorrow’s vanquished and that tomorrow’s vanquished
are after-tomorrow’s victors and so on. By joining the National
demobilization Committee and later heading it, the General was trying to
break the cycle of the senseless nightmare in which the Somali people are
trapped.
The political assassination of General Talan puts into question the hasty
decision to move the parliament and government from Arta, Djibouti to
Mogadshu in place of moving it to Baidaba, Bay. The fact remains that
Mogadishu, as most delegates stated while in Arta, is a dangerous place
where criminal warlords with a vested interest in the present anarchy
mushroom and kill at will. In contrast, Baidaba is peaceful and the Digil
and Mirifleh were the only Somali group who wholeheartedly supported the
Somali National Peace Conference. Leaders such as Shaati Guduud, Soobi,
Deerow and all their chiefs were present at the conference. Baidaba would
have been the ideal place to stay, while at the same time restoring law and
order in Mogadishu.
The plain truth is that the warlords have nothing to lose and will
capitalize on the mistakes of the present government. President Salaad
Qaasim should know that respecting the will of the Somali civil society is
the only thing that can guarantee the revival of the Somali State and
facilitate the nation building process. Unilateral decisions that contradict
the spirit and letter of the tenuous peace agreements at Arta will
eventually derail it and we will be back to where we started.
The failure of the peace process will be a disservice to the distinguished
people, like general Talan, who sacrificed their lives for the welfare of
their people, and the millions of the other Somalis who attached their hope
to it.
Saving the Somali people from the quagmire of the civil strife and the grips
of the warlords will be the best tribute to the General. And that is what he
liked best. A beautiful, civilized State that competes and cooperates with
the rest of the world and the neighboring countries is what he wished most.
Realizing that wish will be the best tribute to the general. A peaceful
nation that is the crown jewel of the family of nations is what he
envisioned. Making concrete that vision will be the best tribute to the
General. A Somali State with a legitimate government is what he sacrificed
his life for. Keeping alive the spirit of reconciliation that was rekindled
at Arta will be the best tribute to the General.
And we condemn the perpetrators of the repugnant act and the evil cowards
who planned and executed it. We hope that one day they will be brought to
justice.
Finally, I would like to extend my deepest sympathy and condolence to his
wife, Khadra Abdi, and children.
Goodbye brother Yusuf. Goodbye General. We salute you .We admire your
exemplary behavior and you will forever live in our hearts and memory.
Truly, you are a star that outshines all other stars.
May God’s Peace and Compassion be upon you.
By
Hamid Masheye
hmas...@hotmail.com
Dallas, USA.
10/20/2000
Omer J. Ofleh
continue living without General Yusuf Tallan.
Abdirashid wrote:
> General Yusuf Talan
> A Shining Somali Star
> ......................................