Southwest Somalia

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Flag introduced by the RRA for Southwest Somalia, which it considered independent from 2002

Southwest state of Somalia acc. Declaration of March 27, 2014

As Interim South West Administration (Maay-Maay: Koofur-Orsi ), the area between the rivers is Jubba and Shabelle in southwestern Somalia called. Under the official name South West State of Somalia ( Somali Koonfur-Galbeed Soomaaliya ), the autonomously administered region has been understood as the federal state of Somalia since March 2014. Of the former Somali administrative regions, southwest Somalia roughly corresponds to the area of Bay , Bakool and Shabeellaha Hoose . However, a strong political current in south-west Somalia also lays claim to Jubaland , the region bordering in the south between the Jubba and the Kenyan border, with the former administrative regions Gedo , Jubbada Dhexe and Jubbada Hoose .

In the center of the area is the city of Baidoa , other places are Buurhakaba , Dinsor and Huddur . The most important clan are the Rahanweyn (Digil-Mirifle), who traditionally live here as agropastoralists . In the north it borders on the Somali region of Ethiopia, also known as the Ogaden .

history

Southwest Somalia 2002 to 2005

In the Somali civil war that began in 1991, South West Somalia was fiercely contested between different warring parties. Combat operations and extensive looting led to famine in Somalia from 1991-1993 , from which the Rahanweyn in south-western Somalia were particularly hard hit. In 1995 the warlord Hussein took Aidid Baidoa and disempowered the Rahanweyn local administration there, Supreme Government Councilor Digil-Mirifle . In response, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) was formed, which launched a counter-offensive and ousted Aidid from the region until 1999.

After the establishment of the transitional national government in 2000, Hussein Aidid, the RRA and others, with the support of Ethiopia, joined the SRRC alliance in 2001 as a “counter-government” in Baidoa. Under the leadership of Hassan Mohammed Nur Shatigadud , the RRA proclaimed the independence of Southwest Somalia on April 1, 2002 - probably influenced by the models Somaliland and Puntland in northern Somalia. However, this could not be fully realized due to the influence and presence of numerous other clans and warring factions in the area. After the peace agreement between the SRRC and the transitional government, Baidoa became the provisional seat of the transitional government in 2005, which enabled it to move into Somalia for the first time. The southwestern state, which was temporarily administered independently, was thereby absorbed into Somalia. Shatigadud became finance minister of the transitional government

Fighting broke out again in 2006 when the Union of Islamic Courts advanced against the transitional government and was then pushed back by Ethiopian troops. In 2008 the interim government was again harassed by Islamists (see al-Shabaab ) and other government opponents and only controlled a small area around Baidoa.

State of Southwest Somalia

Following the federalization of Somalia and the adoption of a new constitution in August 2012, the option was officially given to form states by merging at least two of the former Somali administrative regions. Based on this, there were two political initiatives in south-west Somalia: one envisaged a local association, while the other sought to merge with Jubaland . In March 2014, the supporters of the “6-Regions Initiative” elected a regional president, whereupon the Somali interior minister made it clear that the federal government would not provide any support to undermine the claims of the administration already established in Jubalands. UN Special Envoy Nicholas Kay also pointed out that he would prefer a solution with only three administrative regions for south-west Somalia. At the end of March 2014, the ambassadors from Bay , Bakool and Shabeellaha Hoose elected Mohamed Haji Abdinur as president of the new state. On June 23, 2014, the rival faction published a communiqué in which it announced that it would join the administration of the state, which now comprises three administrative regions, and will cooperate with the federal government.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Dominik Balthasar: Somalia's federal agenda: From fragility to fragmentation? ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 928 kB). In: Brief Issue 17/2014 of the European Union Institute for Security Studies 
2. ↑ Somalia: Rival Politicians Agree On Interim South West Admin , In: Garowe Online, on allAfrica.com, June 23, 2014, accessed March 11, 2016