Sultan Hurre vs. Colonel Abdullahi:
Justice Cannot be Obstructed Forever

Seventeen months have passed since the broad daylight assassination of the respected Sultan Ahmed Mohamud Mohamed, known as Sultan Hurre, in Puntland. The case has never been settled thus making it one of the most heinous act of the modern Somali history.  The case has also became a nightmare on the conscience of Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the unconstitutional president of Puntland State of Somalia, who is accused of giving the order of the execution. Sultan Hurre was one of the traditional leaders who opposed the unconstitutional extension of Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to the presidency of Puntland when his term expired on the 30th of June 2001.

In mid October 2003, it has been reported that Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed requested the case to be ‘mediated’ by some of the most prominent Puntland traditional leaders. These leaders included Boqor Mohamud, Sultan Said Garaase, Garaad Mohamed and Aqil Abdiwahab. At the beginning, seeing the problem to be mediated by such leaders was a relief for Puntland people. Unfortunately, the hope did not last beyond the first meeting.

The failure of the said meditation can be attributed to Colonel Abdullahi's intransigency and his unscrupulous attempts to obstruct justice. According to Colonel Abdullahi, he should not be retained responsible for the killing of the Sultan, but his so called ‘administration’, as he admits that Sultan Hurre died in the hands of his personal bodyguards following his ‘arrest’.

The mediators faced a dilemma: how to understand a leader whose attempt is to divorce himself from his responsibility. In other words, how much political and personal responsibility a leader should bear in relation to the action of his ‘administration’?

The confusion heightened when Colonel Abdullahi offered to arrest and hand in those who triggered the shots which killed the sultan. According to Colonel Abdullahi, these men are still members of his personal bodyguards despite their breach of his orders to ‘arrest’ the sultan. As Colonel Abdullahi never saw his men’s action (that of shooting the sultan) as breach of his order (arresting the sultan), the logical conclusion that could be detracted from his action confirms that the killing of Sultan Hurre was an extra-judicial executions − a well known policy employed by the colonel for many years.

Why did Colonel Abdullahi bother initiating the recent hapless mediation, when we know that he had not even bothered to investigate the death of the sultan? The following reasons might give a clue:

1.      Since the killing of the sultan seventeen months ago, Colonel Abdullahi was constantly carrying intimidation, bribery and backdoor manoeuvring to settle the case in his own terms. As his strategy failed to yield the result he might have expected, changing tactics is just another ploy to obstruct justice.

2.      He is running out of time against the court case in the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom brought against him by the wife and children of the late sultan (who happened to be British citizens). If the case is settled in the Somali traditional ways, he believes that the court case would be thrown out.

3.     Sultan Hurre’s case became an obstacle to his dreams to 'lead' the Somali government expected to come out of from the moribund Somali National Reconciliation Conference held in Kenya.

Whatever his intentions, what Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has demonstrated is that he has no intention to resolve the case brought against him. He can fool himself, however, running away from his responsibilities will never ease his nightmare let alone settle the case. Colonel Abdullahi should bear the responsibility to his wicked actions and that of his ‘warlordism’, which are responsible for the destruction, death, and suffering of the people of Puntland.