Mogadishu (UM) – Excerpts from the Kenyan Daily Nation’s newspaper shows the US Ambassador to Kenya clearly saying, “I’ve been to Mogadishu to speak to the Somalia president. I told him to pull off the court case.” The Ambassador feels that unless Somalia gives in to Kenya’s bullying and theft of Somali’s waters, Al-Shabaab will not be defeated. This is wrong. Al-Shabaab will have a cause to discredit this entire government and democracy if America bullies it to force a legal settlement with Kenya. Ambassador Kyle McCarter has to be careful when he speaks of the matter and perhaps consult his more experienced diplomatic colleague Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, the rightful US Ambassador to Somalia, before he causes political crisis for the federal government in Somalia.
The Somali people are passionate about defending their maritime borders. They need every inch of their waters to develop after nearly 30 years of poverty. The International Court of Justice already acted against Somali wishes by giving Kenya an unfair extension until next year. Now, the US must be careful to not pander to Kenya’s crocodile tears to cause regional instability and bring dangerous injustice to the Somali people.
The Somali people are grateful for Kenya’s past support during the period of civil war and Somalia would have done the same as a responsible neighbour. Somalia and Kenya share a common interest in defeating Al-Shabaab because it is not only Somalia that is suffering. Al-Shabaab also has regional ambitions and strong links and networks in Kenya where they have carried out heinous terrorist attacks. If Ambasssor McCarter is not already briefed on this, he should really speak to his many security experts at his embassy. Somalis are also grateful for the USAID assistance but it would be better if they could develop from their own resources including their maritime assets in full. There can be no negotiated settlement in the theft of Somali waters; Ambassador Kyle McCarter must FINALLY understand this and end his irresponsible messaging on the matter to the world. If the Daily Nation has misquoted the Ambassador in his interview, he should sue them because his words caused distress, anger and creeping mistrust of the USA in Somalia.