Somalia:
The Fiqi Omar subclan of the Dir clan, including how the Dir subclans
compare commonalities and differences, the political representation they
have enjoyed leading to the "Cairo Declaration," and subsequent
National Reconciliation Conference, whether they have a militia and
where, with whom and against whom it is currently involved
Information on the Fiqi Omar subclan of the Dir clan including
the manner in which Dir clans compare commonalities and differences
could not be found among the sources currently available to the Research
Directorate. For detailed information on the Dir clan and their family
tree, please consult pages 144-148 of Patrick Gilkes'
The Price of Peace in Somalia, and the appendix on clan genealogies, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.
The Dir participated in the Sodere Conference which took place on 3
January 1997 at the Ethiopian hot-spring resort of Sodere, and is one of
the major clan families represented in the 41-member National Salvation
Council (NSC) created at Sodere and charged with the responsibility of
organising a transitional government (
Africa Confidential 17 Jan. 1997).
The Cairo Peace Agreement, which was a follow-up to the Sodere
Agreement, was reportedly signed in the presence of Egyptian president
Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on 22 December 1997 (
Africa News 23 Mar.
1998), by delegates of Hussein Farah Aydid's Somali National Alliance
(SNA) and the NCS headed by Osman Ali "Atto" and Ali Mahdi Mohamed (
The Indian Ocean Newsletter 6
Dec. 1997, 3). The Cairo Declaration called for another follow-up
conference of national reconciliation to be held in Baidoa on 20
December 1997 but this has been repeatedly postponed and is now
scheduled to take place on 15 May 1998, funds permitting, although "the
real obstacle stems from the refusal of faction leader Hussein Mohamed
Aydeed to pull his militia from Baidoa, as agreed in Cairo" (ibid., 4
Apr. 1998).
A 30 March 1998 Agence France Presse report states that two people
were killed and five others injured during fighting between Habr Gedir
and Dir clans in the Qeyder village in southern Somalia.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible
information currently available to the Research Directorate within time
constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be,
conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or
asylum.
References
Africa Confidential [London]. 17 January 1997. "Somalia: The Sodere Spirit."
Africa News. 23 March 1998. "Somalia: Somali Peace Advocate Calls for Grassroots Approach." (NEXIS)
Agence France Presse. 30 March 1998. "Plus de 30 morts dans des combats à Kismayo." (NEXIS)
The Indian Ocean Newsletter. 4 April 1998. No. 806. "The Impossible Reconciliation."
_____. 6 December 1997. No. 790. "Somalia: Pipes of Peace."
Gilkes, P.S. September 1994.
The Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations 1991-1994. Bedfordshire, U.K.: Save the Children's Fund.
Additional Sources Consulted
Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [London]. Vols. 34 & 35. Nos. 1-12. January 1997 - March 1998.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997. 1998.
Horn of Africa Bulletin [Uppsala]. January 1997 - February 1998. Vols. 9 & 10. Nos. 1- 6.
The Invention of Somalia. Edited by Ali Jamale Ahmed. 1995. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press.
Lewis, I. M. 1994.
Blood and Bone: The Call of Kinship in Somali Society. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press.
_____. 1988. Rev. ed.
A Modern History of Somalia: Nation and State in the Horn of Africa. Boulder, Col.: Westview Press.
New African [London]. January 1997 - March. 1998.
Electronic sources: DIRB Databases, Global News Bank, LEXIS/NEXIS,
Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News Connection (WNC).
Copyright notice:
This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder
and producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original
version of this document may be found on the offical website of the IRB
at
http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.
