Biyokulule Online

Djiboutians helping the TFG in Somalia
The Indian Ocean Ocean newsletter
September 05, 2009

A U.S. Marine walks out of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti December 20, 2002. Camp Lemonier houses about 900 military personnel who are also part of the combined joint task force for the horn of Africa. The United States combined task force are here to combat, disrupt and defeat transnational terror groups. REUTERS/Antony Njuguna

Holhol camp in Djibouti

According to information obtained by The Indian Ocean Newsletter in Djibouti, around thirty Djibouti servicemen are on a mission in Mogadishu to help the Somalian Transitional Federal Government (TFG) army with its training. About ten of them come from the Sheikh Osman`s camp, including drivers of armoured vehicles and certain are close to the Djibouti chief of army staff, General Zakaria Cheikh Ibrahim. Some soldiers who refused to go to Somalia were sanctioned. The Afar civilian doctor Hamadou Ali Gardé was sacked from his government job at the end of July for the same reason. On the other hand, some high ranking officers, such as Colonel Omar Bouh and Colonel Youssouf Kayad, who did not want to go to train Somalian soldiers in Mogadishu, were not sanctioned at all. President Ismail Omar Guelleh informed them in mid-August that he would not be needing them if they refused to go to the help of the Somalians.

485 Somalians are already receiving military training at Holhol camp in Djibouti supervised by French instructors. With the backing of the European Union (EU) and probably financial aid from the United States, some Somalian officers should shortly be trained at a French military camp in Djibouti.

Boreh has a busy summer
The Indian Ocean Ocean newsletter
September 05, 2009

The businessman Abdourahman Boreh, whose relations with the presidential couple are at an ebb, has not been idle during the last few weeks.

Abdourahman Boreh has recently had separate meetings with three representatives of the Djibouti government in Dubai where he is now resident. The Indian Ocean Newsletter has managed to obtain the names of two of them. One is the governor of the Central Bank, Djama Mahmoud Haid, the brother of the First Lady, Kadra Mahmoud Haid. According to our sources, Haid asked Boreh to go back to Djibouti to make amends with the Head of State. To be sure, this conflict is increasingly troublesome for President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (IOG) because it only aggravates a political situation that is already unhealthy and risks encouraging members of the opposition and certain Issa dignitaries who are against his running for a third presidential term. However, Boreh does not seem to have accepted Haid`s slightly threatening request.

The other Djiboutian dignitary Boreh met in Dubai in early August is a long-standing friend of his: the Minister for Home Affairs Yacine Elmi Bouh. This Mamassan (President IOG`s clan) is in dispute with certain ministers close to the First Lady (ION 1267) and is not particularly in favour of a third presidential mandate. Many of his protégés have been sacked – the latest in the line was the prefect of the capital city, Mahmoud Houssein who was dismissed last month. The presidential couple is wary of him, and his meeting with Boreh did nothing to appease their misgivings. Consequently, the possibility that he might be ousted is frequently raised. If it does indeed occur, he could be replaced by Hassan Said known as Modobé, the current head of security, who is a Mamassan and the same clan as he is.