Sultan Ali Mirah died at the age of 90 and was buried in Asayita on April 26, 2011, according to Ethiomedia.com. During the days of Emperor Haile Sellassie he was, at least nominally, the only Muslim figurehead in Ethiopia who belonged to the royal family and had always a direct access to the palace. having the highest feudal rank of “Bittwodded” He effectively helped the emperor most of the time in controlling the Afar area in the Ethiopian empire and in subjugating its people systematically. In his statement of condolence the editor of Ethiomedia.com describes him as a great statesman, diplomat and ( Ethiopian ) patriot who “ when confronted by the flag- bashing Meles Zenawi regime in the early 1990, proudly remarked ‘ even our camels nod for the Ethiopian flag’”.
I met the Sultan twice while he was in exile in Saudi Arabia during the Mengistu era, once with Hussein Sura and, a year later, alone, representing our political group. Each time Ali Mirah made on me the impression of a practising, highly pious Muslim, his statements very sober and measured. There was no doubt that even then he had a considerable following among the traditional people of Afar. While talking to him in a big hotel , I could not help wondering how he could reconcile his piety with his loyalty to Emperor Haile Sellassie, who had liquidated many Muslim clerics all over the empire. In the course of our conversations his anti-leftist convictions and sentiments were loud and clear numerous times. It did not occur to me to contradict him for obvious reasons. The same sentiments became clear to me later when I met his eldest son for the second time in Djibouti to discuss how to coordinate our struggle against the pro-Soviet military clique. It was finally clear to me that the Sultan and his son were not made for the national liberation struggle of the Afar people. They were rather, in my opinion, an obstacle.
Historically the Afar form part of the Hamitic- speaking Cushitic family of nations closely related, among others, to the Oromos and the Somalis. The greatest part of the Red Sea coastal area is part of their homeland. Thanks to the meeting of interests between the European and Abyssinian colonialists, the Afar people are sandwiched and parcelled out between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti. The demise of Ali Mirah’s tribal influence may encourage young revolutionary elements to articulate more clearly the legitimate aspiration of the Afar nation politically and organisationally, in their struggle for self-determination, also facilitating the joint struggle of the oppressed nations and nationalities of the oppressive Abyssinian driven empire that is now known as a Federal Republic of Ethiopia, which is in reality neither republic nor federal except on paper.