Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NAIROBI516
2008-02-20 14:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nairobi
Cable title:  

Somalia -- Former PM Gedi Concerned about Debt, Reputation

Tags:  PGOV PREL SO ET 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 000516 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S FRAZER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL SO ET
SUBJECT: Somalia -- Former PM Gedi Concerned about Debt, Reputation

Classified by PolOff Mitch Benedict for Reasons 1.4 (b, d)

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Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 000516

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S FRAZER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL SO ET
SUBJECT: Somalia -- Former PM Gedi Concerned about Debt, Reputation

Classified by PolOff Mitch Benedict for Reasons 1.4 (b, d)

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Summary
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1. (C) SE Yates met with former Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi
February 12 to review current developments in Somalia and the status
of Gedi's asylum request. Gedi spent considerable time spinning
self-serving refutations of allegations that while Prime Minister he
engaged in corrupt practices and misuse of funding. Gedi painted a
picture of a man without means, hounded by creditors and forced to
sell off possessions and property. However, we view Gedi's efforts
to cleanse his tattered name as nothing more than a thinly veiled
attempt to get the USG to squeeze money out of the Saudis on his
behalf. He claimed he can no longer stay in Nairobi, and he asked
for immediate assistance. End Summary.

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It's all Yusuf's Fault
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2. (C) In a wide ranging meeting February 12, former Somalia Prime
Minister Gedi told SE Yates that he wanted to clear his name, discuss
his status in Kenya, and review the current situation in Somalia.
Most of his monologue consisted of an effort to rehabilitate his
reputation, and much of the blame fell on President Yusuf. Gedi said
his trouble with Yusuf began the day of his appointment. He claimed
Yusuf told him on November 4, 2004 at the Intercontinental Hotel in
Nairobi that he never wanted to be President. Yusuf allegedly said
he had decided a Hawiye should be president, and he would be prime
minister, which is why he supported strong executive powers being
invested in the position of prime minister. However, because the
Hawiye split and could not unify behind a presidential nominee, Yusuf
took the presidency and offered the prime minister position to Gedi.
Gedi told Yusuf he would "work for the people of Somalia under his
leadership." His lack of total fealty to Yusuf marked the beginning
of his problems with the President.


3. (C) Claiming the European Commission Office in Nairobi is staffed
by "crooks" whose job is to misinform, Gedi said he was
"misunderstood" by many partners while he was in office. Parrying

whatever allegations there may have been against him, Gedi fingered
Yusuf for numerous financial shenanigans. For example, when the
Chinese came looking for oil concessions and bearing a blank check
for $1 million Yusuf insisted, and secured, the check made out in the
name of his son. When Saudi Arabia gave the TFG $32 million for the
National Reconciliation Congress (NRC),Yusuf demanded that Gedi
obtain $10 million in cash rather than having the money transferred
into a TFG account in Jeddah. Also, according to Gedi, Yusuf went
twice to Saudi Arabia in 2005 and 2006 to discuss Saudi financial
assistance to Somalia. Eventually a $197 million dollar package was
agreed to, but has never materialized (except for the $32 million for
the NRC) because of Yusuf's desire simply to obtain cash.


4. (C) Gedi identified Salim Aliyow Ibrow as a key agent in diverting
government resources to Yusuf and his family. Ibrow, who was the
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and Higher Education in
the last Gedi government, is the current Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs in the cabinet of Prime
Minister Hussein. Gedi claimed that over a twelve day period in
September 2007, when he was sick in Nairobi, Acting PM Ibrow signed
off on nearly $27 million in questionable expenditures from the Saudi
money, including $8 million for Ali Mahdi. The money, which was
supposed to go to the NRC, was divided between Yusuf ($6 million) and
Mahdi ($2 million). The President, according to Gedi, has no
authority to expend government money, yet 90 percent of the Saudi
money was diverted to Yusuf. In a period when civil servants had not
been paid for seven months, Gedi arranged for a $1.2 million payment
in October to parliament "out of my money."

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Gedi the Reconciliator
--------------


5. (C) When the NRC closed and 350 delegates went to Saudi Arabia and
signed a commitment to enact the resolutions, the TFG also agreed to
meet with the opposition. However, according to Gedi, the next day
Yusuf refused, saying he would not meet with "terrorists." Gedi then
went to Djibouti, and after some negotiation he succeeded in bringing
members of the Hawiye/Abgal opposition with him to Mogadishu. They
met with the President and said they were prepared to work toward a
political dialogue. However, the President said "you are all Hawiye
and you do not want reconciliation."


6. (C) Gedi next allegedly met with Abdi Qassim and others who
assisted him to meet with the Hawiye Leadership Council (HLC),which
represented the views of many Hawiye who were opposed to the TFG.

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Again, Gedi's purpose was to promote reconciliation. He claimed to
have met Ahmed Diriye, the HLC spokesman, on October 8, his last day
in Mogadishu. Diriye reportedly told Gedi the HLC was ready to work
with the TFG. However, "the next day in Baidoa the fight against me
intensified," said Gedi, until October 29 when he resigned. While
everyone pointed at Gedi as the obstacle to reconciliation, the
reality, according to Gedi, is that Yusuf and his family "are very
good at killing you with their words" when it was them all along who
undermined all his efforts at reconciliation.


7. (C) Gedi views Yusuf as bent on revenge. According to Gedi,
Yusuf's answer to opposition is "we will destroy them, they are all
al Qaeda," and Yusuf believes the country should be governed by a
Darod regime. Clearly implying the TFG as led by President Yusuf,
Gedi said "those harassing, looting, and killing are engaged in
revenge politics, and revenge politics is very dangerous." Gedi
recounted how Somalia's first president need only say "he is a
criminal" in order to have a man removed. Siad Barre would get rid of
a man by labeling him as "anti-revolutionary," and Yusuf has learned
that he can eliminate opposition by labeling them as al-Qaeda. Gedi
conceded there are some al-Qaeda elements in Somalia, "but we know
them." Those labeled by Yusuf as al-Qaeda are not al-Qaeda, "but
political opposition, mainly Hawiye."


8. (C) Comment: We could not help but notice that now out of office
Gedi's comments on Yusuf, his intentions, and his views on the
opposition, could have just as easily been made by Mohamed Uluso (Ayr
political leader based in Nairobi),Asha Elmi (former MP and civil
society leader),or even Sheikh Sharif (former Chairman of the
Executive Committee of the Council of Islamic Courts). End Comment.

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Generally Pessimistic
--------------


9. (C) Gedi implied he is in touch with the Ethiopians, who are very
frustrated over developments in Somalia. Two days prior to our
meeting Gedi said he received a group of 17 Puntland businessmen who
complained about Puntland government officials interfering in trade
and commerce for personal gain. In the Juba regions Gedi said things
are worse than ever, with Islamic extremists threatening whatever
semblance of legitimate government that may exist. "90 percent of
the country is not under our control," said Gedi, and in Juba no one
is in control. The Asmara group, according to Gedi, will announce an
administration for Merka in the next couple weeks. And, of course
said Gedi, there is already a conflict between Yusuf and PM Hussein.


10. (C) Asked what should be done, Gedi said he has advised the PM to
minimize any potential for conflict with the President, and never to
allow a cabinet meeting to take place when he is not in the country.
Gedi urged the USG to use its influence to support the PM as a strong
actor independent of the President. He also said we should support
the immediate establishment of local administrations. Particularly
in the Jubas, he said, local communities need to form administrative
bodies as a means to establish security.


11. (C) With regard to a federal division of the country, Gedi
insisted the country would be best served by five states, with
Benadir as a special region, and the sooner these federal regions are
established the better. Gedi told us when he left office a draft
constitution was already completed. He claimed he hired experts,
including constitutional lawyers, and set them to work with the
constitutional commission, which consisted of seven Somalis, three of
whom were from the diaspora. He repeated his call for international
experts who could facilitate the process, and said with "$50,000 and
two months" they could review what has been drafted.

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Make the Saudis Pay
--------------


12. (C) Gedi said several times that security is not his concern.
Rather, he claimed he can no longer stay in Nairobi because he and
his wife are being hounded by creditors several times daily. The
TFG, as part of his resignation, agreed to honor Gedi's debts
incurred as Prime Minister. However, his personal debts remain large
and unpaid. His wife recently sold "a half kilo" of gold, and he
sold a farm in Afgoye. He has asked the Saudi King for assistance,
and he has been assured by Seyoum Mesfin, Foreign Minister of
Ethiopia, that he would also petition the Saudis on Gedi's behalf.
"They can help me," he told us, and he asked the USG to also weigh in
on his behalf.


13. (C) Gedi claimed he is good friends with Tanzanian President
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, who offered him a house, car, driver, and
security in Zanzibar. Allegedly the Ethiopians have also similarly
offered to provide Gedi with housing and accommodation. However,
Gedi said, the issue is not housing or security, rather how he can

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pay off his debts. In that regard, Gedi was very concerned about an
article by an independent journalist that appeared on the web. The
article alleged that the U.S. had purchased a home in Los Angeles and
arranged a university position for Gedi. Such information would only
serve to embolden his creditors, and Gedi was working to counter the
article.

--------------
Bio Note
--------------


14. (C) Contrary to popular belief, Gedi claimed, his father never
was in Addis Ababa, nor did he have a personal relationship of any
degree with Meles Zenawi. In addition, Gedi said there are rumors
that after his appointment as Prime Minister on November 3, 2004 he
went immediately to Addis Ababa before proceeding to Mogadishu. He
insisted he went directly from Nairobi to Mogadishu. Lastly, Gedi
says there are rumors out there that his wife is Tigrayan, when in
fact she is "100 percent Somali."

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Comment
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15. (C) Gedi remains a player within Hawiye circles and he makes no
effort to hide his presidential ambitions. Nur Hassan Hussein was
also mentioned to us as Gedi's candidate to succeed him, and Gedi
implied he was in frequent contact with now PM Hussein. However, we
view Gedi's efforts to cleanse his tattered name as nothing more than
a thinly veiled attempt to get the USG to squeeze money out of the
Saudis on his behalf. If Gedi was even fractionally as engaged and
supportive of reconciliation as he imagines himself to have been, we
would have known it -- and we did not. Likewise, if Gedi was working
so feverishly at reconciliation, but being thwarted at every turn by
President Yusuf, one has to wonder why he never hinted at any of this
while he was in office. While elements of truth undoubtedly are
intermingled in Gedi's story, we view his intentions as self-serving,
and we will continue to monitor his efforts at rehabilitation and
"reconciliation."
RANNEBERGER