Sept. 14, 08: WND: Almost 44 years to this month, the New York Times ran a special feature report "Somali Guerrilla Chief says He'll Ignore a Truce."

This was the days when Makhtal the freedom fighter and his cabinet in exile put serious challenges to limit Ethiopia's ability to rule the Somali region. The regime of the time reverted to collective punishment, mayhem and massive arbitraty arrests of civilians, including forced kidnapping of innocent civilians from remote regions and then labeling them as "Somali Shiftas."

It is nothing less than Orwellian to see 44 years later the Canadian government trying to secure the release of another Makhtal, only this time a grandson who is a Canadian citizen.

Mr. Bashir Makhtal, a Canadian citizen, and the grand son of the late Makhtal (a tenaciously defiant crusader for the rights of his people) has been illegally jailed in Ethiopia and held incommunicado without trial since January 2007. Bashir Makhtal was kidnapped and brought blindfolded to a military camp, which serves as a maximum security jail for political prisoners.

Approximately 44 years ago the elder Makhtal broke out of his maximum security jail called Alam Baqay (the end of the world) and resumed his guerrilla activities. This time, Ethiopian authority is foxier in its manipulation of the world opinion, more militarized almost making any escape of the younger Makhtal nearly impossible, one is left with a serious concern about the ultimate demise of Bashir Makhtal.

Meanwhile, there would definitely rise another Makhtal out of the ashes of misery and subjugation of the Somalis in Ethiopia and re-map the Somali question in world opinion.

The Makhtal ghost thus will continue, irrespective of what Meles and his contemporaries or predecessors lament.

Faisal Roble
E-Mail:fabroble@aol.com

Somali Guerrilla Chief Says He'll Ignore a Truce

Mogadiscio, Somalia, March 27, 1964 - The key in the border conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia is Mukhtal Dahir the leader of 12, 000 Somali guerrillas who have been waging a war against the Ethiopian army. More