His first step was to re-establish contact with Aidid’s Somali National Alliance (SNA). At a Tuesday conference arranged with the help of Eritrean and Ethiopian ambassadors, he told Aidid surrogates there would be no further negotiations without the release of Durant and a Nigerian captive. “Do it unconditionally. Then we won’t have it fouling everything,” he said. According to one diplomatic source, Oakley talked about his experience with the Hizbullah in Lebanon, telling the SNA that “holding U.S. hostages is not the way you gain legitimacy.” Oakley had support from SNA moderates who felt that Durant was becoming a political liability. Since many of Aidid’s fellow clan members wanted revenge for the Oct. 3 army ranger attack on the Olympic Hotel, the SNA faced increasing difficulties guaranteeing Durant’s safety.
The moderates won out. On Thursday morning Aidid announced his release. The United States insists no deal was cut, but Oakley says “one act of good will” begets another. SNA detainees held by United Nations forces could be released in the next few days. Oakley’s next objective is to help restore the delicate status quo that existed in May, before the United States turned authority over to the United Nations. That means re-establishing a disarmament committee made up of all Somali clans, and an independent commission to investigate Aidid’s role in the June 5 massacre of 24 Pakistani peacekeepers. Oakley is no miracle worker. Somali war weariness and the U.S. decision to refocus on a political solution paved the way. “If there had been no course correction, Bob would have gone out there and accomplished nothing,” said a senior State Department official.
Oakley, 62, made a career of turbulent posts. He was a junior diplomat in Saigon (196567) and helped start the State Department’s counterterrorism office in the mid-1980s. He’s also built a reputation for straight talk to tyrants. Somali strongman Siad Barre got so tired of his lectures that he ordered him out of the country as ambassador in 1984. The White House is hoping that Somalia’s warlords will listen this time around.
