Mohamed Siyad Barre

 In December of 1978. President Mohamed Siad Barre, may God have mercy on him, visited the cities of Damascus and Baghdad, in Iraq and Syria.

The president of Syria at the time, Hafid al-Assad, and the former president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, both told the president of Somalia that they were under pressure from Russia, which refused to support the Somali government, which was fighting an independence war with Ethiopia.

Three months before President Siad Barre's trip, the Soviets seized two shipments from Syria and Iraq that were carrying some military equipment. while sitting together with the first vice president and the minister of defense Major General Mohamed Ali Samatar,

When I heard the news before moving, he lit a cigarette and said, "Arabs are not free, the flags they carry are a symbol of colonialism."

There was a lot of doubt and political conflict between the Arab states and the east and the west.

President Mohamed Siad, never sided, every time two Arab countries go through a crisis, he would request advance information from the NSS intelligence agency so that he can call the two leaders of the two countries and tell them that Somalia is ready. a place for peace to spread.

The Minister of Commerce of our country, Ahmed Silanyo, President Siad gave a message to two Arab countries that are in the middle of the crisis and that day when Minister Silanyo was visiting, the message was that Somalia is ready to extend a peace treaty to them. Siad Barre, after finishing the speech, jokingly added, they should not accept anything if they want, let them know that we are arguing about theirs.

In the country of Yemen, Siad Barre believed that any problem that happens in Yemen can have an impact on Somalia, and everything that is good for Yemen means something that is good for Somalia.

During the day when he was talking to us as NSS officers who were mostly information collectors in the Arab world, one of his words was "Yemen is the Kingdom of Arabs".

Written by: Hirane, who was an officer in the Somali Intelligence Service (NSS) from 1976 to 1991.

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