My interview on current political developments in Somalia with Alhurra TV

Two days ago, I was interviewed by Alhurra TV about political developments in Somalia. You can listen to the interview here.

For the benefit of English readers, here are the main points from the interview:

• I made an all around assessment of the current political situation in Somalia, emphasizing the challenges the government of President Ahmed is facing from within and without.


• I focused on the struggle between the president and Parliament members over his proposal to implement Sharia law in Somalia, which I suggested was an attempt to appease the radical Al-Shabaab. I commended the resistance of a significant number of parliamentarians, who opposed it.


• I argued that this would be opposed by the majority of Somalis -- and thus would not bring peace to Somalia -- and is counterproductive given the fact that Somalis tend to be moderate Moslems. Instead, I suggested that a good option to resolve Somalia's predicament would be to strengthen and support a broad-based government, composed of secular and moderate Islamist political groups. In addition, I underlined the fact that the government should be a secular government based on rule of law, leaving religion and religious matters to the traditional courts.

I also discussed relations between the Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda, and the consequences of those relations to Somalia, and I touched on the ways the region is relevant to the Western and U.S. global war on terror.

Another main issue which was hotly discussed in the interview was the whereabouts and disappearances of Somali youths from Minneapolis who are believed to have gone to join the Al-Shabaab.