The SSC Conference in Taleex

The SSC Conference in
Taleex

Good news for a change for all Somali Doon (unionists). And bad news for all Somali Diid (secessionists): the much awaited SSC conference has finally opened in Taleex in Sool region on Monday, December 26th, with all its religious and traditional pageantry. Needless to say, the choice of this location is laden  with its immemorial historical symbol not only for the SSC people but for Somalis as a whole. It is where the Darwish freedom fighters under Mohamed Abdalla Hassan had set up their base in their holy war to defend the Somali homeland in the Horn of Africa against predatory colonialists colluding to carve it up.

History repeats itself, and this time round, the fort of Taleex is the venue for a conference aimed at defending Somalia's unity against its enemies, above all the secessionist renegades based in Hargeisa. This conference, named Khaatimo Two, is like no one held before it in the SSC regions since the collapse of the Somali State in 1991. The difference this time is the manner of its preparation and the scale of its participation. Originally conceived in a preparatory conference in London (Khaatimo One) by the SSC Diaspora, the call for Khaatimo Two immediately won the hearts and minds of all the SSC people at home and abroad. As such, participants to the conference will include representatives of the Diaspora and all shades of civil society in the SSC regions.

No one should therefore doubt that the decisions of this conference represent the true voice of the SSC people. The SSC Foreign Relations Commission will keep all concerned abreast of the proceedings and deliberations of this conference and above all its final outcome. But no one should have any doubt the message from this conference: the SSC people will be true to their historical stance in defending Somalia's unity. It is a message which the secessionists should hear load and clear and heed it. It is in their interest to cut their losses and pack their bags and end their occupation of Lascanod, the capital of the SSC regions.