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July 3 - July 10, 2011 |
The hope for a political transformation in Somalia
Somali-Canadians happily greet Gure, activist presses Italy for intervention
By Mario Cagnetta
Elections could be held within a year, which is why Ali Abdulle Gure travelled to Toronto to meet with the Somali community – one of the world’s most numerous. His is a mission of peace, a foreign-sounding word going back to 1991 after the end of the nation’s Siad Barre dictatorship era and ensuing civil war. So he presented himself to his people who have migrated to Toronto – 600 hopeful were in attendance at Holiday Inn on Dixon Rd last Tuesday to acclaim him as being “the saviour of their beloved homeland” recently brought to its knees again after the resignation of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, and unending threat by Al Shabaab, the extremist group that has spread fear throughout the land.
“Somalia is like a huge pot where everyone wants to cook,” he said. “But I’m very determined to re-establish a stable government for my people so they can be at peace and begin living with dignity again.”
Born in Bule Berde in the Hiiraan region but raised in Mogadishu, Gure spend a good part of his life in London. Though he became blind at age nine, he was able to distinguish himself in the entrepreneurial (Editor’s note: he owns a pen factory in the Somali capita, employing 100) and cultural field, investing in education programs for the new generations.
While in Canada he met provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath and then flew out to Washington and then Italy to speak with diplomats at the White House and the Farnesina and update them on the current Somali situation.
He urge dItaly to take up the cause on behalf of his country. The Bel Paese itself, through colonization under fascism, is considered the best chance of being a privileged and especially strategic intermediary for his nation.
“Italy must go to the United Nations to request and obtain a mandate for intervening and stopping the war that’s going on,” he explained. “It happened other times too that the colonizing country intervenes to prevent a situation from getting worse. We think, for example, of France with the Ivory Coast,” he continued. “The situation for us is very similar. Somalis would be very happy if Italy became concerned about them because Italians know us better and would better understand our situation.”
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