According to I.M. Lewis' 1955 map of Somali clans (reprinted in the European Union's Study of Decentralised Political Structures for Somalia: A Menu of Options), the Ogaden branch of the Darod clan family is found in southern Somalia, west of the Juba River (EU 1995, np). Some Ogadeni territory also crosses the border between Kenya and Somalia, while other Ogadeni subclans have traditionally occupied territory in Ethiopia (ibid.). The following Ogadeni subclans have territory in Somalia, according to Lewis' map: Aulihan, Mohamed Zubeir, and Makabul (ibid.).

In September 1994 Gilkes writes that the Ogadeni controlled the hinterland north and west of Kismayo, the main city in southern Somalia, which itself had a mixed clan population (Sept. 1994, 84). Although Lewis' map lists the Bartire, who are found west of the Juba River, as belonging to a different branch of the Darod, other sources include the Bartire among the Ogadeni clans via the Absame clan grouping (HRW/Africa Apr. 1995, 71; United Kingdom, Asylum Division, Oct. 1995, 71; Gilkes Sept. 1994, see clan chart, n.p.).

The Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) was formed to fight on behalf of the Ogadeni in 1989 and has continued to represent at least some faction of Ogadeni subclans since then (United Kingdom, Asylum Division Oct. 1995, 40; Gilkes Sept. 1994, 85). The original leader of the SPM was General Aden Abdullahi Nur "Gebiyou" of the Aulihan subclan, but later following a schism among the various Ogadeni subclans of the SPM, Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess became leader of a SPM faction (ibid., 133). A Reuters report referred to Gebiyou as chairman of the SPM in January 1996 (15 Jan. 1996).

As a military leader, Jess has continued to skirmish with General Mohamad Hirsi "Morgan" for control of Kismayo, since he lost control of the city in 1993 (Gilkes 1994, 84-90). In February 1996 Africa Confidential reported that Jess remained in General Aydeed's self-appointed government even though Jess "has mixed feelings about Aydeed and [his] own position is shaky" (16 Feb. 1996, 4). The Indian Ocean Newsletter reported in November 1995 that Jess had been weakened because 25 leaders in the SPM had joined up with Aydeed's enemy in Mogadishu, Ali Mahdi Mohamed (11 Nov. 1995, 2). Jess was accused of diverting the group's funds for personal use by the defectors (ibid.). However, Jess was in control of the area surrounding Kismayo, Agence France Presse reported in January 1996 (AFP 17 Jan. 1996). Following Aydeed's death, Africa Confidential reported that Jess remained in Aydeed's government, although his involvement "has been increasingly uneasy over the past year" (23 Aug. 1996, 4).

In a telephone interview on 6 September 1996, a political scientist at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, who was a political consultant for the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) stated that the situation in the Mohamed Zubeir territory was comparatively calm with little fighting. However, the source stated that the situation in the Juba River valley was "lawless and absolutely chaotic" (ibid.). This source added that many Ogadeni refugees from recently closed refugee camps in Kenya have arrived in Ogadeni territory in the Juba River area. This influx has greatly taxed local resources (ibid.). The refugees are largely urban people ill-prepared to live in the rural territory in which they now find themselves (ibid.). For additional information on this area of Somalia, please consult Response to Information Request SOM24775.E of 9 September 1996, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.

For a recent history of Ogadeni clan politics, including that of the various subclans, please consult pages 133-36 and the chapter on Kismayo in The Price of Peace (Gilkes, Sept. 1994). For information on the Darod-Ogaden lineage, please consult pages 39-40, 71 and 106-10 of "Supplement to Information Session on Country Conditions on Somalia" (DIRB Feb. 1996). Scattered references to the Ogadeni can be found in the Human Rights Watch/Africa report, Somalia Faces the Future (Apr. 1995). These three documents are available at Regional Documentation Centres. For additional information, please consult the attachments.

Please note that the spelling of Somali place names and clan names is not consistent in the literature, and that each of the spellings used in this Response reflects the original spelling found in the cited sources.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Africa Confidential [London]. 23 August 1996. Vol. 37, No. 17. "Somalia: Aydeed's Legacy."

_____. 16 February 1996. Vol. 37, No. 4. "Somalia: Aydeed Again."

Agence France Presse (AFP). 17 January 1996. Ali Musa Abdi. "Somali Warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid Captured..." (NEXIS)

EC Somalia Unit, European Union (EU). August 1995. "Distribution of Somali Clans and Neighbouring People." A Study of Decentralised Political Structures for Somalia: A Menu of Options. London: European Union/United Nations Development Office for Somalia.

Gilkes, P. September 1994. The Price of Peace: Somalia and the United Nations: 1991-1994. Bedfordshire, UK: Save the Children Fund, UK.

Human Rights Watch (HRW)/Africa. April 1995. Somalia Faces the Future. New York: Human Rights Watch/Africa.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter [Paris]. 11 November 1995. No. 663. "Somalia: Aideed Ambitions."

Political scientist, Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina. 6 September 1996. Telephone interview.

Reuters. 15 January 1996. BC Cycle. "Reuters Africa Highlights." (NEXIS)

United Kingdom. Asylum Division of the Home Office. October 1995. Somalia: Background Brief. (Compiled by the DIRB. Feb. 1996. "Supplement to Information Session on Country Conditions on Somalia.")

CSIS Africa Notes [Washington, DC]. May 1995. Ken Menkhaus and John Prendergast. "Governance and Economic Survival in Postintervention Somalia," pp. 1, 3, 6.

United Nations. August 1996. From Relief to Development in Somalia: Situation Report for the Period 16 July-2 August 1996. Nairobi: Office of the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia, pp. 2-3, 5-6.

_____. July 1996. From Relief to Development in Somalia: Situation Report for the Period 1-15 July 1996. Nairobi: Office of the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia, pp. 2-5.

_____. June 1996. From Relief to Development in Somalia: Situation Report for the Period 16-30 June 1996. Nairobi: Office of the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia, pp. 3, 5-7.

_____. June 1996. From Relief to Development in Somalia: Situation Report for the Period 1-15 June 1996. Nairobi: Office of the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Somalia, pp. 3, 5.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Humanitarian Response, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), Washington, DC. 19 August 1996. Situation Report No. 3. "Somalia - Complex Emergency," pp. 1-4.