Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0330/03301.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 14KB | 228 lines

$Unique_ID{COW03301}
$Pretitle{286}
$Title{Somalia
Chapter 4E.   Western Relations}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Jean R. Tartter}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{states
united
somalia
aid
military
ogaden
somalia's
million
somali
soviet}
$Date{1981}
$Log{}
Country:     Somalia
Book:        Somalia, A Country Study
Author:      Jean R. Tartter
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1981

Chapter 4E.   Western Relations

     After the withdrawal of Soviet personnel from Somalia in 1977, the
country sought to rebuild its former close ties with the countries of Western
Europe. The refugee situation and Somalia's deepening economic crisis
attracted a mounting flow of aid, not only in bilateral form but also through
the European Economic Community (EEC) and UN agencies. But Somalia's urgent
efforts to find help in refurbishing its army after the Ogaden war were less
successful. Although the United States, Britain, and France had been
initially disposed to approve the export of arms for the defense of Somalia's
borders and to alleviate the effects of the Soviet cutoff, the three Western
countries reinstated their embargo policies when it became apparent by August
1977 that Somalia was embarked on a large-scale offensive in the Ogaden.

     The success of the Ethiopian counteroffensive in January 1978 with Soviet
and Cuban assistance presented the Western powers with the problem that
Somalia's belligerency had left it virtually defenseless against a possible
Soviet-directed invasion. The  United States, joined by the other Western
countries, called for a negotiated settlement and extracted assurances from
the Soviet Union that the advancing Ethiopian forces would not cross the
Somali border in return for agreement by Somalia to withdraw its remaining
military units from the Ogaden.

     While Western military aid was withheld pending Somalia's complete
cessation of activity in the Ogaden, economic aid from Western Europe and the
United States increased measurably. The Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany), which had been a moderate donor, phased out its assistance in 1970
when Somalia recognized the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Aid was
resumed in 1978, initiated by an unconditional loan of the equivalent of US $12
million that was regarded as a token of gratitude from Somalia's cooperation
in the overpowering of hijackers of a Lufthansa airliner at Mogadishu airport.

     Italy has sought to maintain working relations with the parties in the
Ogaden dispute, regarding its historic role in the Horn as qualifying it to
assist in finding a settlement. Although Italy had cut back its substantial
aid program in Somalia after 1970, it was resumed in 1977. Subsequently
Somalia has become the single most important beneficiary of Italy,
accounting for 20 percent of Italian aid worldwide. During a visit to
Mogadishu in mid-1981, the Italian foreign minister signed a three-year
agreement promising the equivalent of nearly US $200 million for projects in
agriculture, irrigation, and energy development. By virtue of its former ties
with Italy, Somalia was entitled to associate status with the EEC. EEC aid
allocated through the European Development Fund (1980-85) will be equivalent
to US $75-85 million, over half of which is intended for the Baardheere dam
hydroelectric and irrigation project. The EEC had also provided food aid equal
to US $53 million as of mid-1980.

     French-Somali relations had long been rancorous, Somalia charging France
with "colonialism" for its continued presence in Djibouti, and the French
suspecting that Somalia, intent on annexation, would subvert that territory's
course toward independence. The successful transition of Djibouti to
independent statehood brought an end to Somalia's agitation against France and
a measure of reconciliation. A number of French firms have been engaged in
development-oriented projects, including a large cement works at Berbera
financed with Arab credits, and mining and hydrology surveys have been carried
out by France.

     Somalia's relations with the United States have followed an erratic
course, negatively affected by Somalia's use of force, directly or indirectly,
in pursuit of its Greater Somalia goal and by its earlier military alignment
with the Soviet Union. A decisive turn in relations appeared to have been
reached when a military access agreement was signed on August 22, 1980,
although abundant possibilities remained for future differences and
misunderstandings.

     During the 1960s the United States was the largest source of nonmilitary
aid to Somalia after Italy. Political relations were nonetheless distant owing
to Somalia's encouragement of insurrection by ethnic Somalis against Kenya
and Ethiopia, countries friendly the United States. United States military aid
to Ethiopia, significant by African standards, was in turn an irritant to
Somalia. The diplomatic climate became more positive after the shift to a
policy of accommodation with Kenya and Ethiopia by the Shermarke-Egal
government in 1967.

     The military coup in 1969 was followed by a long period of strained
American-Somali relations. As leader of the capitalist world, as Israel's
protector in the Middle East, and as a primary benefactor to Kenya and
Ethiopia, the United States seemed antagonistic to the SRC's purposes. Peace
Corps volunteers, mostly working as teachers, were expelled on trumped-up
espionage charges, as were several officials from the United States embassy
and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). United
States retaliation took the form of closing its USAID mission and terminating
its assistance programs, although two projects already under way-a water
supply system for Mogadishu and port improvement at Kismaayo-were completed.
The justification for the aid cutoff was a United States legal prohibition
against assistance to countries lending their flags to vessels engaged in
trade with Cuba and Vietnam.

     While American aid continued to reach Somalia in the form of
contributions to multilateral aid programs and disaster relief grain
shipments, official contacts remained at a low ebb until Somalia's differences
with the Soviet Union in the spring of 1977 resulted in the visit of an
economic aid team to Mogadishu. United States officials, seeking to present
Somalia an alternative to its military dependence on Moscow, also responded to
Somali government appeals by indicating that the United States was prepared
"in principle" to supply a limited amount of defensive weaponry. One
possibility was that such aid would be financed by friendly Arab states. While
this offer was revoked at the outbreak of open conflict in the Ogaden, other
factors were by then also working against the arrangement. Congressional
reluctance to become more deeply involved in the Horn, Somalia's anti-Israeli
posture, and Mogadishu's unwillingness to break conclusively with Moscow until
Western aid was firmly pledged were among the constraints acting on the United
States.

     Somalia later asserted that it had been encouraged by the United States
through unofficial channels in committing regular units in the Ogaden and that
Washington had agreed to replace the Soviet Union as a major arms supplier
because the United States wanted to punish Ethiopia for its defection to the
Soviet side. American officials rejected this account, pointing out that the
arms transaction had been suspended as soon as the presence of the Somali
troops in the Ogaden had been verified.

     As the Soviet and Cuban role in the Ogaden expanded in early 1978 and the
Somali situation became more critical, Siad Barre's appeals for arms continued
to be rebuffed by the Western powers. The United States objected strongly to
the harmful actions of Moscow in supplying excessive arms to both sides and
dispatching Cuban troops to Ethiopia. A warning was issued against invasion of
Somalia. The OAU was also urged to bring its weight to bear in securing an end
to the