Different perspectives on Somalia. Part IX.

SOVIET EMBASSY’S SURPRISE INVITATIONS!

Once we used to have diplomatic warriors….  This is Part IX of the reflections of a former diplomat and a friend of mine who after many years decided to share with me some of the interesting experiences he encountered while working for the Somali Foreign Affairs Ministry (FAM) in the early 1980s and during his diplomatic career.

My Friend Hussein* told me the following… in his own words.

It was a customary practice for diplomatic missions everywhere to hold receptions celebrating their national days. And embassies that were present in Mogadishu in the early 1980s were no different. Usually, each Embassy will invite diplomats of other missions, ambassadors and their spouses first, and in some cases other embassy personnel according to their ranks. 

For the host country, which in this case was Somalia, invitations were ordinarily sent to the top senior officials of the foreign ministry: Minister, State Minister, and Permanent Secretary, followed by Chief of Protocol, and Director of the Department that corresponds to the Embassy holding the reception. For example, if a European Embassy is holding an event, then it invites the Director of Europe & America of the Ministry. Invitations were sent to some Ministers and other top public servants but were very few to my knowledge. The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, for example, used to invite top commanders of the Police force to their national day - as Germany used to provide training for police personnel and equipment to the Police Force.  

The Deputy Chief of Protocol, Ismail J. Hayow, and protocol officers were usually invited on those occasions. In the three and half years that I worked at the FAM (1982 – 1985), I believe I witnessed Minister Jama Barre attend only three embassy receptions, several times for the State Minister Mohamed A. Hamud and three dozen or more for the two Permanent Secretaries who served during my stay ( namely Hashi Abdalla & Ahmed M. Adan “ Qaybe”).  

So, in the middle of September 1983, Hagi Hassan Mohamoud who was then the head of the main ordinary archive, delivered a big red envelope containing many invitations from the Soviet Embassy in Mogadishu arrived at my desk. When I checked, I found out they have sent invitations for their October Revolution day reception to all FAM department heads including the Minister, Minister of State, Permanent Secretary, Protocol department as a whole, and also all government ministers of Somalia, plus some party members of the ruling Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party.  

I asked the Chief of Protocol Ambassador Abdulhamid A. Yusuf, who was himself surprised by the sheer number of the Soviet invitations, what to do about, and he told me to hold them and remind him when the date of the reception approaches. In the meantime, I went to fetch from the general archive on the ground floor the letter which our Embassy in Moscow sent last year, regarding the report they sent of the reception that was held to celebrate 21st October revolution day (1982) containing the names of soviet foreign Ministry officials who attended which were: The Assistant Foreign Minister, The Chief of Protocol, Director of African Affairs, and two Protocol Officers.  

When the day of the Soviet reception approached, I prepared a brief type-written note addressed to the Chief of Protocol, asking what to do with the invitations and attaching the report of our Embassy in Moscow. He wrote on the corner of the note itself this remark: Minister of State – please advise. The Minister of State wrote likewise: Minister please advise. And Finally, the Minister wrote: let these participate (Minister of State, Chief of Protocol, Director of Asia & Socialist countries, and the responsible Protocol Officer – me).

This clearly shows how the detail of the working mechanism of the Protocol can sometimes reach up to the desk of the Minister. This is perhaps a reflection of the low-level relations that existed between Somalia and the Soviet Union in the early eighties. And the Minister rightly decided to act upon the principle he took, which was to participate in their reception day the way they attended ours. 

We don’t know the political consideration or motivation that was behind their move or attempt if there was any. Because countries sometimes try peculiar ways to try test the waters. All we know was the invitations from the Soviet Embassy in 1983 were unusual, and we acted to keep the status quo, letting our existing foreign policy guide us for interacting with another country that was once an ally. 

Years later when I was posted abroad, I will come to realize how important these functions were to missions and the countries they represent. While stationed in Ankara, I once telephoned a diplomatic friend of mine, asking if he would be coming to join an arranged long weekend tour for diplomats. He apologized for not being able to come because he and his colleagues will be busy writing the report of their national day celebration, which was held the preceding evening. 

Since I was invited to that particular reception too and knew it went well as the host country sent an important minister to represent Turkey, and the diplomatic community participated, I thought writing the report of that gathering won’t take long and would not need for diplomats to come back to work on a Saturday, So I politely inquired, because I liked his company and was looking forward to meeting him in the tour. His response amazed me, saying that it was not at all that simple. Very detailed information was required for submission to their Ministry. So, they have to sort out those who participated in ambassadorial level, those who delegated the participation to deputies, the ones who apologized in advance by phone, and those who didn’t show up at all.  

On another occasion, an Arab (ARE) ambassador approached me once while I was attending a diplomatic reception. After greeting, he enquired what happened to you –the Somali Embassy and why we didn’t participate in his country’s national day reception a fortnight ago. I replied saying I thought only heads of missions were invited in their reception. He responded in the affirmative, saying but your Ambassador didn’t come; adding tradition was if the Ambassador could not come, he delegates his deputy – so it means your country will be represented to our reception. I finally told that Arab Ambassador I was not aware our Ambassador was not present.  

When I asked the next morning our Ambassador about the reception in question, he told me he was looking forward to attending that diplomatic party but could not make it due to an emergency situation and later realized it was too late to delegate me. So, he promised he will talk to the concerned Ambassador to apologize.  

So, this shows how Embassies were committed to ensuring the attendance of their national day celebrations because in a sense it was the birthday of any state. Any Embassy that undertakes to hold a reception will definitely take the opportunity to promote its country’s image to the world as well as its efforts to contribute positively to the international community. Last but not the least, it is also a crucial chance to strengthen friendships with members of the diplomatic community serving in a particular country. Reception is an important gathering for diplomatic corps to get to know each other and exchange information and ideas. 

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Hussein M Mohamed and I went to Casa Popolare Primary School, Hodan, Mogadishu in the 1970s. And later on, we were the first and second students who were admitted to the faculty of Journalism where he graduated and joined the Somali FAM. He continued to serve the country as a diplomat, but I left and continued my studies at Monash University in Australia and may rapidly add not on a Somali government scholarship! We are now working on a book about Somali Foreign Affairs, stay tuned.

Hussein M Mohamed can be contacted via hmm@somaliaaway.com