OFFLINE

Somalia: The qabqablayaasha.

The news of the sudden capture of Osman Atto by the insurgency and his immediate release followed by the subsequent VIP treatment, escorted under guard at his request to an undisclosed location proves once again that he is the ultimate Teflon Warlord of Somalia.Indeed a man with nine lives like a cat, and up to now an omen for the unfolding of new events for Mogadishu - unfortunately so far and to this point only for the worse.The subject of more than one spectacular capture and arrest followed by long stretches of complete silence and suspense, followed by a triumphant sudden release from detention under even more mysterious circumstances.It was back in 1993 that we all remember him being the only big fish captured in that infamous day of Black Hawk Down by the American special forces.Then recently we heard that he's been put under house arrest in Baidoa by the TFG, after the discovery of large amounts of weapons, communication equipment, hundreds of thousands of US Dollars in cash, gold and what-have-you at his home in Mogadishu or for some other newly discovered offenses along those lines.Who knows, perhaps what we now have in front of us is the latest narrative of a yet another spectacular move by the Teflon Warlord - ..'He was in the middle of one diabolically executed clever escape from his long house-arrest in Baidoa by the TFG when the insurgents captured him, making him a sudden Enemy-of-their-Enemy and hence an instant new Friend and a Valuable Ally!'The surprisingly curious thing about Osman Atto  are the magic of his perfectly timed Houdini-like moves, incredibly bold manoeuvres that straddle between seemingly irreconcilable odds:  One moment he's a jail bird under custody, next moment he is a major player in the biggest and baddest game in town, and all of that performed effortlessly with  dizzying speed and incredible precision.This latest incident coincides so nicely and conveniently with the eve of the latest Peace Efforts in Djibouti that one must wonder what new surprise should we expect from the now suddenly free and pro-Insurgency Osman Atto - the Teflon Warlord ?For now I'm all ears, and my bet is that for good or for worse, with this last minute addition of this mysterious, colorful and ominous protagonist to the play, this newly unfolding chapter in the saga of the Somali tragedy is about to become now a bit more interesting.

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