Dealing with Somalia . . .
The vast wasteland known as Somalia is back in the news almost on a daily basis. Lawless pirates, mostly young people, have found some success in the business of capturing huge freighters, kidnapping crews and extracting millions of dollars in ransom.
Fourteen years ago, Rev. Paul A. Maxey, then the pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ in Woodsboro , played a big role in gaining release of seven Americans and 16 other humanitarian relief workers held as hostages by Somalis in Baidoa, a small town 275 kilometers west of the capital, Mogadishu. It was no easy task either.
Dr. Maxey was part of a group that had been asked to visit General Mohammed Farah Aideed, then warlord of southern Mogadishu. Paul and me along with former U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Frank Crigler, his daughter Loren, a professional photographer, and Dr. Harold G. Marcus of Michigan State University were together. Our visit was arranged by Aideed’s special Washington envoy, Ali Gulaid. He was asking for humanitarian assistance.
My exclusive online column in the Nov. 25 Frederick (Md.) News-Post tells the rest of the story…
Read more at the link below:
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/fnp_display.htm?storyID=104518
