• Sagal Dolal is the daughter of the late ONLF leader Dr. Mohamed Sirad Dolal, who was allegedly assassinated by a rival ONLF leader Mohamed Omar Osman. Ms Sagal Dolal and other Ogaden people who support the Maow-ONLF faction accuse the Osman-ONLF faction for the assassination of her father and for framing the Ethiopian government to cover up the murder. The Maow-ONLF faction recently signed a peace deal with the Ethiopian government but the Osman-ONLF faction opposes this peace deal. The following is a letter by Ms. Sagal Dolal about her father's assassination and the peace talks in Ethiopia.

By Sagal Dolal

The situation in Ogadenia is changing. The discussions in Frankfurt, Germany have been flooding the Somali-Ogaden media. The ONLF is in peace talks with the Ethiopian government. Therefore I would like to congratulate the ONLF for there hard work, diligences and compassion for the Ogaden people. The ONLF was intended for the people of Ogadenia and they have asked for peace, it takes empathy to listen to what the people want. Therefore I thank and applaud the ONLF, as it is a brave decision to make and I hope that the Ethiopian government follow through with the final agreements. My father always said to me that it is the Ogaden people that can decide whether any agreements can be made with Ethiopia, he believed in allowing the people to decide what their future will be. I think that if he was here and the Ogaden people asked for peace then he would try everything in his power to negotiate the best deal for his people.

It has been a long conflict and it has caused lots of suffering for the Ogaden people. It has caused numerous children to be orphaned and many women without their husbands. This suffering has gone on for too long and it is the people in Ogadenia that it affects the most and we should think of them when we decide the future of Ogadenia.

The group of people that have been sabotaging the ONLF has failed at their own objectives. Mohamed Omar Osman’s plan to murder my father and thus destroy the ONLF has not happened. It is growing in strength everyday. Mohamed Omar Osman, Abdiraham Mahdi, Mohamed Ismaail and Cadaani Hiromogee sub-clan cleansing has not worked either, the Ogaden men and women that have contributed to Dr. Mohamed Sirad Dolal, Murxuum Luqoowe Muxamed Tayse and Jamal Odol have not broken the ONLF and its people. We know what they have done and will not let anyone forget it. I will tell my children and they will tell their children who killed their grandfather and the Ogaden people will never forget Dr. Mohamed Sirad Dolal. Furthermore the Ethiopian government said that they will not talk to Mohamed Omar Osman and do not recognise him as the chairman of the ONLF. He was jealous of my father for his integrity and values, now he is jealous of Eng. Salahdin Maow for leading the ONLF.

The propaganda Mohamed Omar Osman feeds to the Ogaden people is not working. Even the Ethiopian government is backing away from him and all the meetings he has will not make him like my father, he doesn’t even come close.

I heard that Mohamed Omar Osman, Abdiraham Mahdi, Mohamed Ismaail and Cadaani Hiromogee were all in a restaurant called ONLF and this was a special restaurant that had the members of the ONLF on their menu. Mohamed Omar Osman said I want have Dr. Mohamed Sirad Dolal’s shoulder and Abdirahman Mahdi said to Cadaani Hiromogee if you are going to have the head of Jamal Odol then I want his eyes and Mohamed Ismaail said I want Murxuum Luqoowe’s leg. They all enjoyed their meal and afterwards said to each other we better hide the evidence and blame it on the hyenas. I thought that metaphor really summarised the callous way in which these men have tried to eat the Ogaden men and blame it on Ethiopia.

The ONLF have recognised that there are many Ogaden people that support them. In addition the Ogaden people are starting to understand that these men are trying to destroy the ONLF and what it stands for. The conference in Frankfurt, Germany is a breath of fresh air and it is a significant moment in history for the Ogaden people and it emphasises that the ONLF is alive and will not let a few try to demolish the many men and women which have died and sacrificed their lives for this cause. Moreover it tells Mohamed Omar Osman that he is a fool to think that he could divide and conquer the ONLF.

I do not know what will come of the talks with Ethiopia, but I hope that the ONLF can get some sort of peace for the people that live in Ogadenia and have to survive the suffering everyday.