SUMMARY
SPM (Somali Patriotic Movement) was a Somali rebel group founded in 1989 with the purpose of ousting the incumbent regime of Siad Barre. The group, from the start, represented members of the wide array of sub-clans of the Darod clan family in Somalia. SPM has also been known as SPM – Harti, as the organisation since 1993 grew more exclusively into being based solely in the Majerteen clan, which is a sub-clan of Harti (Darod). It has also been named in line with two its leaders, SPM – Gabiyo and SPM – Morgan respectively. As a result of SPM’s cooperation with USC/SSA (United Somali Congress/Somali Salvation Army) and the other parties in the SSA (Somali Salvation Army) alliance, SPM has also sometimes been referred to as SPM/SSA.
The immediate trigger for the creation of SPM was the dismissal of the Somali minister of defence, General Gabiyo (Rer Ali/Awlihan/Ogaden/Darod). There had for some time been resentment against the government of Barre, which was seen to favour mainly his own Marehan sub-clan of Darod. Following the dismissal of Gabiyo a number of army officers defected, founding SPM. The group’s first leader was General Bashir Beliliqo (Awlihan/Ogaden/Darod). Under his command SPM played a noteworthy role in the ousting of Siad Barre in 1991. Once Barre had been overthrown General Gabiyo was freed and became the head of the organisation, initially assisted by prominent SPM figures such as Colonel Omar Jess and later also General Morgan. Omar Jess was however subject to an attempt from Gabiyo and Morgan to seize control of the organisation and he left SPM, forming what came to be known as SPM/SNA (Somali Patriotic Movement/Somali National Alliance) in late 1991.
During the second half of 1990, SPM formed an alliance with USC (United Somali Congress) under Mohammed Farah Aideed and SNM (Somali National Movement). The group decided that, once victory against Barre was achieved they would divide power amongst themselves. However, this power-sharing scheme did not materialise in the aftermath of Barre’s fall. Instead the power-vacuum and confusion that followed Barre’s ousting saw new alliances grow and disappear. In March 1993 SPM, in a Darod-based alliance with SNF (Somali National Front; mainly Marehan clan) and SSDF (Somali Salvation and Defence Force; mainly Harti clan), was able to capture the strategically important port town of Kismayo in south Somalia. It is unclear how this alliance started to break up but it seems fairly clear that it was not long until the occupying force in Kismayo had developed from a SPM, SNF, and SSDF alliance into forces loyal solely to General Morgan, who had grown stronger in the leadership (See more under Forces of Morgan). SPM also found itself drawn into the conflict between two of the major armed groups in Somalia in the early 1990s, USC/SSA and USC/SNA (United Somali Congress/Somali National Alliance), in which it sided with USC/SSA. This cooperation was to some degree a result of the splinter SPM faction, SPM/SNA under Colonel Omar Jess, siding with USC/SNA, and was thus a continuation of the SPM – SPM/SNA rivalry on another level. References from the period refer interchangeably to the alliance, to the forces of Morgan, SPM, or to Majerteen clan militias as being in charge of the city. This is, however, not surprising given the fluid allegiances that were a reality in Somalia during the early 1990s.
In March 2001 SPM, under the leadership of Gabiyo, joined the SRRC (Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council) which was a group opposing the TNA (Transitional National Assembly), an attempt at forming a national government in Somalia in the early 2000s. Other members of the SRRC were USC/SNA (United Somali Congress/Somali National Assembly), SSDF, SSNM (Southern Somali National Movement), NSC (National Salvation Council), SNF (Somali National Front) and RRA (Rahaweyn Resistance Army).
SPM has been involved in the intrastate and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence.
