South Africa arms Somalia

Press, 31 May 1985, Page 16

South Africa arms Somalia

By

GODWIN MATATU,

in Nairobi

South Africa has entered into highly secret agreements of military and economic co-operation with Somalia, an impoverished and militarily fragile country on the Horn of Africa. The Somali Government of President Siad Barre has strongly denied that it has any links with Pretoria; but the night flights that bring the heavy South African accents to the bars of Mogadishu, the capital, betray the secret relationship.

Somalia’s connections with South Africa stem from its quest for arms. Humiliated by its defeat in the territorial dispute with Ethiopia in the Ogaden, isolated from its friends, and shunned by the Arab world of which it had wanted to be a part, Somalia turned to South Africa as far back as the early 1980 s, initially through intermediaries. These covert contacts have continued, with South African officials occasionally visiting Mogadishu. Last year, Somalia’s powerful Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Mohamed Samantar, was feted in Pretoria and inspected several military establishments, including factories run by Armscor. Since then he has played a crucial role in the development of Somali-South African relations.

The South African Foreign Minister, Roelof “Pik" Botha made a secret tour of some East African countries last December which, significantly, took in a stop at Mogadishu where he had talks with President Barre. Soon afterwards.pt was confirmed in Pre-

toria that Mr Botha had secured an agreement granting South African Airways permission to overfly Somali airspace as well as landing rights at Mogadishu. My investigations, however, suggest that Mr Botha and President Barre discussed and agreed on substantially more than this. Well-placed sources in the usually secretive Somali hierarchy say that the South Africans agreed to replenish the obsolete and depleted arsenal of the 60,000-strong Somali army. In addition, South Africa would provide technical personnel to salvage and maintain Somali military hardware, much of it Soviet-made, which is in a bad state of repair. The South Africans also agreed to extend the existing short runway at the small coastal town of Kisimayu, south of the Somali capital, as well as to develop its port facilities. These would be at the disposal of the South African Air Force and Navy if and when they needed them. The landing rights are not confined to S.A.A., the State airline, but to any South African aircraft.

South Africa’s supply of arms to Somalia may have begun already. For the last ten weeks there have been frequent, but unusual, planes landing and taking-off at night, offloading cargo at Mogadishu airport. The few expatriate staff, who normally work night-shifts, have been told to work during the day only. One expatriate technician said: “Something like this happens always when tbpy do not want us

to see what is going on.” . . Most of the cargo is hauled off by Army trucks in the morning, sources say. Occasionally, aircraft with Air Comores livery have been seen parked at the far end of the runway, waiting until darkness to unload. South Africa supplies aircraft, pilots, and management for Air Comores. It is also interesting that the registration numbers on the fuselage of Pik Botha’s private jet were concealed by black polythene covers when he landed at Mogadishu. Diplomats in Mogadishu believe that these planes are ferrying arms. “We are almost certain South Africa is bringing in arms that it captured from Angola," said one long-serving Western diplomat. Angolan arms are of Soviet origin — until 1977 Somalia’s only source — and they would blend well into the Somali armoury. South Africa may also be selling its own arms to the Somalis on favourable credit terms. The diversification of Somalia's arms began, in fact, last year when it acquired nine low-cost British-made Hawker Hunter ground attack aircraft and a twoseater trainer from Abu Dhabi. One of the Hunters crashed and the remaining eight and the trainer are now at the heavily fortified air force base at Baidoa, some 200 miles west of Mogadishu. They now constitute the entire flying force of the 2000-man Somali Air Force. When General Samantar visited South Africa last year, he asked his counterpart there, General Magnus Malan, to sanction the recruitment of pilots and back-up

staff and services to train Somali pilots to fly the Hunters. As a result, South Africa sent ten former Rhodesian pilots and several technicians to Somalia.

The training team was led at first by Lee Thompson, a Briton, who has now been replaced by Commander Wilde, a South African. Recently the team has been confined to the base at Baidoa after the Somali authorities decided that they should lie low. In Mogadishu, Somali authorities grudgingly admit to the presence of the team, saying “They are experts on contract and we do not look at an expert’s background.” The authorities are, however, reluctant to disclose who is paying them or to discuss the terms of the contracts. There are unconfirmed reports that they have been involved in bombing raids on positions held by guerrillas fighting against the Mogadishu Government.

What is certainly clear in Mogadishu is that the Government of Siad Barre is in a scramble for arms. It is unhappy that the SNZBO million worth of military aid that has been extended to them by the United States is limited to defensive weapons. South Africa seems to be the only country to offer a broader military programme. There is much consternation in Ethiopia, Somalia’s long-standing foe. The Soviet-backed Government in Addis Ababa has strongly protested in a note which has been distributed to all Organisation of African Unity countries. Somalia has yet to issue a rejoinder. Copyright - London Observer Service.