Army chief statement: a declaration of war, says Garhajis Traditional Leaders Committee

Hargeisa, Aug 26 (somaliland.com) – The Committee of Garhajis Clan in Somaliland reprobated the call for the execution of the disgruntled army officer, Colonel Aarre, made by the Somaliland army chief on Sunday, 25 July. In a press conference held in Hargeisa, the committee considered the call by the army chief as equivalent to a declaration of war.

The chief of the Somaliland National Army, Major General Nuh Tani, had; in a press conference on Sunday; labelled Colonel Saeed Awil Jama Aarre, a murderer who should be executed.

The chairman of the Garhajis Committee, Sultan Ahmed Osman Adde Gude, said that the army chief spoke on behalf of President Muse Bihi when he called for the execution of Colonel Aarre. The sultan considers the army chief’s words to be the government’s response to the peaceful resolution brokered by the traditional leaders, and which had been accepted by Colonel Aarre.

The president is the commander in chief of the national forces. Tani would not speak without the knowledge of the president. He spoke on behalf of the president. This means that the president has given us his response to the peace proposal over the airwaves even before we get to meet him.

Sultan Adde-Gude

Sultan Adde Gude, on the other hand, pleads with Somaliland National Army to refuse orders to wage war on Colonel Aarre or any clan of Somaliland.

Sultan Osman Sultan Ali Sultan Matar, the grand sultan of Habaryonis–who also attended the press conference–on his part praised the statements of the committee. He expressed concerns over the precarious situation of peace in the country. The grand Sultan also called for a national salvation conference to avert the occurrence of civil war in the country.

I call on Somaliland; primarily the sultans, the intellectuals, and all the stakeholders; to urgently come together in a national conference to salvage Somaliland from this current situation before the bullets leave the barrels of guns; before a war starts as it’s called for today. Because war has been declared.

Sultan Osman Ali Madar