By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) – Old typewriters, dusty passports, faded diplomatic pouches, invitations to embassy parties from 1991 and pictures of a man deposed as president 15 years ago — Mohamed Awil has a lot of stuff to clear out.
Not the normal duties of a senior diplomat in the world’s most populous nation.
But as Somalia’s new ambassador to China, Awil also has a tougher job ahead of him — convincing people his country now has a viable central government, is back on track and will soon be open for business again.
The former Swedish trade unionist returned to help his homeland from exile in Sweden in 2002, and for his efforts was rewarded with the ambassadorship to China, with responsibility for affairs in Japan, the Koreas, Australia and Thailand.
Yet Somalia is so poor Awil gets no money from his government back home, which is appealing for international aid. There is only one other Somali working in the embassy, aside from himself, and most of the rooms are empty.
“There was still a picture of Mohamed Siad Barre above my desk when I moved in December,” said Awil, referring to the man whose ouster in 1991 marked the collapse of central government in the country of some 10 million people on the horn of Africa.
LEAFY COMPOUND
Somalia has had an embassy in China since 1960, and it still stands on its original site off a leafy road in Beijing’s diplomatic quarter, near the Iranian and Argentinian delegations.
Though Siad Barre was deposed in 1991, his ambassador to China stayed on, representing a government which existed no longer and a country that had descended into fiefdoms run by competing warlords.
In October 2004, in the 14th attempt since 1991 to restore a central government, Ethiopian-backed Abdullahi Yusuf was elected Somali president by lawmakers, though they were until recently based in Kenya and do not dare enter the capital.
Awil contends they are a viable and legitimate government, despite widespread scepticism in the international community.
“There is a government. Please stop saying that there is no government,” Awil told Reuters, walking around the building. “There is a central institution whether the U.S. likes it or not.
“We have a parliament. We have a head of state,” he said, adding that with warlords having been driven from the capital Mogadishu by an Islamic militia, the United States should throw its weight behind the new government.
“America has never supported the peace process. Now they have a chance.”
Somalia’s interim president has accused Washington of covertly supporting the warlords now swept out of Mogadishu.
PICTURES OF CAMELS
The signs of the former regime litter the embassy.
Pictures of pre-war Mogadishu and Siad Barre meeting Chinese leaders are piled up in one room, while portraits of the man himself have been hidden in musty cupboards, behind photographs of camels.
In one room sit old passports with visas issued by the long abandoned Chinese embassy in Mogadishu.
In another can be found the grey diplomatic bags that were once carried to the capital by European airlines that years ago stopped landing in Somalia.
Awil says for now the priorities of his government are rather more mundane than looking for investment from Chinese companies.
“Our priority now is peace and security,” he said. “When we have security, the door is open for any country.”
And one day perhaps, Chinese tourists will flock to Somalia, Awil added, pointing out that the Chinese admiral Zheng He visited the Somali coast 600 years ago on one of his voyages of discovery.
However, since December the embassy has only issued about 15 visas, for business.
“We can’t guarantee your safety,” he said of tourist trips.
Not that having a visa issued by his government would be much use, as airstrips all over the country are under no single authority and many charge their own visa or landing fees, often at the point of a gun.
Somaliland, in the northwest, broke away in 1991 and has been run as a de-facto independent state ever since.
A blip, insists Awil.
“Other cities and regions are with the government,” he said. “There is no problem outside the capital.”
For the time being, Awil is redecorating the embassy, cutting back the weeds and sorting through the files left by the previous diplomatic residents. He hopes a large but desolate reception room, decorated with a few scattered seats and some wobbly shelves, will be ready for Somali National Day in a few weeks.
In the garden, which grew unchecked for 15 years, the ambassador himself made a bid at cutting back the trees and bushes. But they had come back, leaving the grounds a marked contrast to the manicured gardens of more affluent Beijing embassies.
“We have a gardener now,” Awil said with a smile.
Source: Reuters, June 13, 2006
