Somaliland

Somaliland American Council open forum with Vice-President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin.

2008-08-15T10:51:00.001-07:00

Somaliland American Council open forum with Vice-President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin

Aug 11

Somaliland American Council, a chapter of East Africa Policy Institute, hosted a lively exchange between the Somaliland Diaspora community and the Vice president of the Republic of Somaliland, Mr Ahmed Yusuf Yassin.

The vice president started his remarks by thanking the audience and the organizers of the teleconference for giving him the opportunity to have a conversation with them. He then briefly described the history and the difficulties facing Somaliland in terms of the economy, security and the educational needs present in the country. After those remarks, he embarked in answering a number of tough questions from the audience as the following transcript from the session indicates.

1-Question from Mudane Hussein "Gacmadheere"

Q-What is the reason why your gov. won't allow us to sell our livestock at the market value?

VP- The Saudi businessman, Aljabari was the only one who answered our call for help and invested his own money up front (3M) to build in Berbera a quarantine facility that will allow us to vaccinate livestock before exporting them to the middle east directly from Berbera, instead of going through Djibouti. This facility will be ready in 4 months and then we will allow the free market to determine price and livestock traders.

2 - Samiya Cali Madar

Q-The govenment donated 2000 heads of livestock to Djibouti recently, since chartity begins at home and there is a large need for food in the country, why did you not help those in need at home?

VP-The need is large and we know it, but our actions had something to do with building a better relation with our neighbor.

3 - Yusuf Sultan, NJ, USA

Q - Berbera is ghost town and is showing a lot neglect, even the newly built power factory is not producing any power due to fuel shortages, all of this happens when this is the city that generates the most revenue for the gov. What are you planning to do to change the situation ?

VP- Fuel costs are a lot higher now than they were when i twas built and resources are limited, but thruth be told, this is a city neglected by its own people, every community is building its own city, why are the people of Berbera not building their own city ?

4 - Samsam Haybe Hersi, Toronto, Canada

Q- Is the Guurti going to have an election, or will they be selected like they were the last time?

VP- There is going to have to be a special election for the Guurti, something different than one man one vote, because of the nature of their office. They are a very important body and they are the reason why we are so successful, they will be here long after everyone else is gone from the scene.

5 - Mohamed Hassan Ali Awale, Boston, MA, USA

Q- In your public statements you come across as some one who is a defender of the constitutuion; Why is your administration constantly breaking the law? For example why are you enforcing monopolies like Total and Aljabari?

VP- Total was the company that restored the fuel Tanks and invested in the infrastructure. Total has 50 year contract (issued to them by the previous administration) furthermore anyone who wants to import fuel can do so today provided they meet the company (Total )standards and conditions.

6- Ismail Hassan Yassin, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Q-Every time the president leaves town, you promise to do something different than what his administration has done so far, then when the president gets back into town, nothing gets done. Can we intrerpret that you have policy and political disagreement with President Rayale and you are unable to institute those promises?

VP- There are no policy or political differences between the president and myself.

7- Ibrahim Abdi, Baltimore, MD, USA

Q- Every time there is a public demonstration, the police end up using live bullets and people die, how can the public express their dissent publicly without having to fear being shot at.

VP- We will have the best demonstration in the contry when all fire arm is removed from every house-hold, because we know that every one has at least three rifles at home.

Q - Moderator followed up; Mr. Vice President, the only shooting that took place came from the police. Why not invest in buying the police some shields and helmets to protect themselves form stone throwing youths, instead of using live bullets?

VP- We do not have the resources to buy such equipment, we don't even have funds to buy bullets for our snipers.

8- Foosi Saleebaan Aw-Bindhe, Burco, Somaliland

Q- It is getting closer to when UDUB is going to have its convention, are you running for president, or Vice President again?

VP- We are a team and I am running as Vice President again.

9- Prof. Amina Xaaji Aadan, CA, USA

Q- Poor countries need to foster and aid their local industries in order to grow their economies, why is your administration issuing and eforcing monopolies for foreign corporations at the expense of local business?

VP-- The Saudi businessman Aljabari was the only one who answered our call for help and invested his own money up front (3M) to build in Berbera facilities that will allow us to directly export our livestock from Berbera, instead of going through Djibouti. This quarantine facility will be ready in 4 months and then we will allow others via the free market.

10- Hassan Ali, Maine, USA

Q- The previous Election Commission is recognized as having done a good job despite the difficulties of their period, yet some feel that they were not properly compensated and have actually been humiliated when they were fired by having the police reposses their vehicle. Is your administration going to consider some kind of compensation for them?

VP- I don't recall the incident you describe about their cars being confiscated by the police, and I agree with you they have done a good job. The difficulty is that now they all joined in different political parties and are no longer an independent players. It would have been easier to do something had they not done that.

11- Cabdirahman Jama Ahmed ( Shootali), Manchester, UK

Q-Do you have a fire fighters and fire trucks in Somaliland?

VP-No we do not, fire trucks require funds we do not have at the moment and now we have the police to respond to fires without proper equipment.

12- Mohamed Bashe Ibrahim, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,

Q- Why is the gov. not changing the old Somali currency into the Somaliland shilling from the eastern regions?

VP- We know there is a problem of old Somali currency being used in the easteren region and we have already taken steps to address the problem. We are planning to resolve this problem before the election.

13- Hussein Beergeel,

Q- Why is your government not addressing the water shortage in Hargeysa?

VP- We are currently in the process of digging new wells in Hargeisa and we have also completed some wells already.

14- Abdi Hussein, Atlanta, GA, USA

Q- There are allegations made by none other than members of the parliament that all the revenue from Berbera port are not reflected on the budget. Can you address this issue?

VP- I want you to come to Berbera and do the auditing yourself to put your mind at ease. Of course that is not the case and all the revenue sources are accounted for.

15- Abdillahi Ahmed, Toronto, Canada,

Q- Having had to postpone the election once already, how confident are you that this time elections will take place in March 29,2008?

VP-The election commission is the body responsible to determine the time to hold elections, however the political parties have agreed on this timetable and I believe the elections will take place at the appropriate time. If there are issues we have mechanisms in place to deal with them then.

Moderator; If by the time elections are to take place, the voter registration is not completed, will you postpone the election once again or are you going to have the elections take place like the previous election which did not require no voter registration completed?

VP- It is worth noting that some of the parties (particulary UCID) are adamant about completing the voter registration before any elections are to take place, and we have come to a concensus on the matter.

16- Abdillahi Daud, MN, USA

Q-Why your government is not helping the private sector to create local jobs? For instance, the government refused to impose high tariffs on foreign products which compete on goods currently produced in Somaliland?

VP-We try to help out our small business and we do not impose any taxes on them, and God willing we will help them more in the future.

17- Hassan Yonis, MN, USA

Q- Your administration has promised in October of 2007 to start construction of the Berbera cement factory, what has caused the delay and what is the latest status?

VP- The German company in charge of building the factory is about to start the project and is due to arrive within the next few months. The agreement calls for openning bidding to anyone if the Germans are unable to complete the project with the required time.

18 - Caydaruus Cilmi Yusuf,

Q- What is your administration going to do about the flood of young people loosing their lives in the red-sea while attempting to leave the country for better jobs?

VP- We are aware of the situation, and let me point out to you, that the Somaliland diaspora are also contributing to this problem by coming home and showing off with your computers and cameras without sharing the reality in the Diaspora with the youth. Because of that the young people think that leaving the country is the answer to getting good jobs.

19 - Ahmed Ali, Seattle, WA

Q- What is your position in opening up the process and allowing more parties to participate in the election?

VP- The constitution is very clear in that regard and we can only have three parties

20-Moderator:

Q-Your administration has blocked private ownership of radio stations, and you have made the claim that there is a need for legislation and regulations in place before you can open the airwaves to the private citizens. How come you have given license to the BBC and VOA to establish FM stations in Somaliland, while denying your own citizens the same rights?

VP- We have signed contractual agreements with the foreign press, and God willing we'll allow the local press to own private radio in the future.

Moderator: Mr. Vice President, we thank you for speaking with us today.

Source Somaliland-American Council

Somaliland American Council open forum with Vice-President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin.

2008-08-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Tanzania Should Move To Recognise Somaliland

2008-07-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

OURS is a sad tale. We are caught in the middle of powerful conflicting interests. It is hope against hope. Some powers are dangling our hope for national recognition like a sinker and bait into the sea but nothing happening!" Abdulkader Hashi Elmi, Somaliland Entrepreneur.

THE above words, spoken coolly and softly yet tinged with bitter disappointment sums up the frustrations of most citizens of Somaliland -- a country which has been standing out alone in the world -- quite a viable state yet internationally unrecognised.

For the last seventeen years from May 18, 1991 to be precise, Somaliland has reasserted itself as an independent state in exactly the same geographical boundaries as at independence from Great Britain on June 26, 1960.

It fulfills all the criteria for statehood as laid down by the Montevideo Convention of 1933 inter alia: it has a permanent population and defined territory. Secondly, it has a government and, furthermore, it has the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Indeed, Somaliland, the country I was on a visit the other day, fulfils all these conditions required as a criteria for statehood. The most puzzling aspect however is that very few people are aware of the existence of this state other than fratricidal Somalia with Mogadishu as the capital.

The reason is rooted into history -- colonial history and subsequent events after the decolonization process. Here, we see "two" countries with almost the same name in pre-colonial days -- British Somaliland and Italy ruled Somalia to the South in the Horn of Africa.

Furthermore, we see both countries, Somaliland and Somalia gaining independence in the same year, 1960. But by July, 1960 both countries had entered into a "Union", based, in the words of an African Union (AU) fact finding mission to Somaliland in 2005 "on a shared ambition among Somalis to build a ‘Greater Somalia' which were to incorporate all the Somali communities in the Horn of Africa. In the course of time, the Union malfunctioned."

But the collapse of the Union between the two Somali countries in the South and North, hastily declared, as it would seem, is not unique in African history. We see the collapse of similar unions: United Arab Republic -- the Union between Egypt and Syria in 1958; the Mali Federation between Mali and Senegal in 1960 and Senegambia -- between Senegal and Gambia which lasted between 1982 to 1989.

But the short-lived ‘unions' in Africa as we have seen above had not meant the denial of recognition and membership of the international community of nations such as the AU and the UN. Egypt and Syria still retain their respective sovereignty and international recognition as is Mali and Senegal.

As the report of the AU fact-finding mission to Somaliland has observed, Somaliland has been made a pariah country by "default". Says the report: "The Union established in 1960 brought enormous injustice and suffering to the people of that country. The fact that the Union between Somaliland and Somalia was never ratified and also malfunctioned makes Somaliland's search for recognition historically unique and self justified in African political history.

"Objectively viewed, the case should not be linked to the notion of opening a Pandora Box. Lack of recognition ties the hands of the authorities and people of Somaliland as they cannot effectively and sustainably transact with the outside world to pursue development goals."

But with all these facts, and very clear facts indeed, there are countries, which seem to be interested in the sustenance of the status quo. A status quo to let the courageous people of Somaliland go unnoticed -- a people who have been soldiering on for the last 17 years as an independent country having broken loose from a malfunctioning union under military dictatorships.

This brings us to the quotation at the beginning of this perspective attributed to a Somaliland businessman, Mr Abdelkader Hashi Elmi.

Actually, Mr Elmi is the owner of a very posh hotel which could easily qualify to a five-star hotel anywhere had his country been enjoying to operate normally like all other independent countries enjoying membership of the United Nations and African Union.

"You see my brother," said Abdulkader, owner of Mansoor Hotel in down-town Hargeisa: "We are victims of powerful interests here each wishing to keep us the way we are to serve own ends.
"The United States will not recognize us because it does not want to offend Egypt, its ally. But it is keeping us in a manner of hoping against hope -- dangling a bait -- leaving our mouths agape -- chasing in the wilderness," he told me to my considerable interest tinged in amusement.

"Why is Egypt in your way?" I asked him.

"The Egyptians are, as usual obsessed with the protection of the Nile in their geo-political considerations. Actually it was former UN Secretary-General, Egyptian Dr Boutros Ghali who initiated our isolation not to assume membership of the United Nations arguing that Somalia must remain one," he responded.

My good friend told me of other forces in the way of the recognition of Somaliland and its assumption of membership of the African Union and the United Nations, which I consider unhelpful to reveal them here.

But as the AU fact-finding mission to Somaliland observed in its report in 2005, the AU should be disposed to "judge the case of Somaliland from an objective historical view point and a moral angle". That moral angle, in my best considered opinion, is that here is a people who are at peace with themselves, meeting all the requirements of an independent state, a democratically elected government in a multi-party governance and who are giving a practical example to their fratricidal brethren in Somalia's Mogadishu of how invaluable peace can make the difference.

How much one really wishes that Tanzania could take the lead to break the ice -- re-asserting its erstwhile prestige as in the old good days -- when it was hailed as the "moral voice and conscience of Africa".

An announcement that Tanzania has recognised the 17-year old Republic of Somaliland will certainly become an inspiration to the rest in Africa and elsewhere and it will, certainly, translate as an important contribution to Africa's quest for peace and stability.

Makwaia wa KUHENGA is a Senior Journalist & Author. Email:

Somaliland Presidential election date set

2008-07-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hargeisa- (Qaran)

The Chair of the Somaliland National Elections Commission, Mudane Mohamed Ismail Mohamed has formally confirmed the date of the Somaliland Presidential elections in 2009.

Speaking to the media at the offices of the National Elections Commission in Hargeisa, Mudane Mohamed Ismail stated that voting will take place on the 29th of March 2009.

Mudane Mohamed Ismail stated that all three Somaliland parties have welcomed the timetable for the elections recently agreed during a tri-party meeting in June.

Somaliland and UN discuss Reconstruction programme

2008-07-11T13:14:00.002-07:00

Hargeisa(QARAN)-

A meeting to discuss the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Programme between the Somaliland government and the United Nations has concluded after two days at the Mansoor Hotel Conference centre.

The meeting which included participation from the Somaliland government, the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union, local agencies and social organisation was to discuss the current state of the programme and the schedule for the next six months.

In a joint press conference by the Somaliland Deputy Planning minister, Mudane Ahmed Hashi Abdi and the head of the UN delegation, Mr. Christian. Mudane Ahmed Hashi stated some of the main conclusion of the meeting,

1. To address the increase in the cost of living by creating a joint Somaliland and UN committee named within 2 days and to present its recommendations within 15 days.

2. To prepare and store at least three months worth of reserves in food, utilities, agriculture products and other priority items.

3. To begin during this fiscal year the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation programme as previously agreed upon.

Mudane Ahmed Hashi, the deputy Planning minister also stated that programme will initial focus on agricultural development, job creation, fishing, poverty reduction and drought preparedness.

Mr. Christian, the head of the UN delegation, who also spoke at the conference, emphasised the need for cooperation between all parties in the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation programme.

President Rayale meets with EU delegation

2008-07-11T13:12:00.001-07:00

Hargeisa (Qaran)-The President of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin met with a delegation from the European Union led by Mr.Richard Hands at the Presidency in Hargeisa.
According the communiqué issued by President's Press office, Mr. Hands and his delegation are on a visit to discuss the European Union's support of Somaliland's voter registration and the upcoming elections in 2009.

During the meeting with the EU delegation, President Rayale thanked the European Union for its support of Somaliland's efforts to complete the voter registration drive and the implementation of the upcoming elections in 2009.

President Rayale also remarked on Somaliland's proven track record in resolving any issues through dialogue, discussion and consensus. Mudane Rayale stated Somaliland will shortly proceed with the voter registration with the participation of the National Elections Commissions, the opposition parties and with the relevant government departments.

In response, Mr. Hands thanked the President and the people of Somaliland for the warm welcome afforded to his delegation during their visit.

Mr. Hands praised Somaliland's ability to resolve any internal political issues through dialogue and acknowledged nations path towards democracy and good governance.

In conclusion, Mr. Hands stated that the donor nations from the European Union are ready to assist Somaliland with the voter registration drive and the implementation of the upcoming Presidential and local assembly elections in 2009, which he described as an important step in Somaliland's path towards democracy and is being greatly anticipated by the international community.

During their visit in Somaliland, the EU delegation are expected with the Speakers of both chambers of Somaliland's parliament, opposition parties, members of the National Elections Commission and representatives from several social organisations.

Mudane Saeed Mohamed Nur, Somaliland's minister of state at the Foreign office attended the meeting between President Rayale and the EU delegation.

Somaliland´s opponents go through the stages of the grieving process.

2008-07-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Somaliland has overcome many hurdles since reclaiming its sovereignty within the international recognised borders of the Republic of Somaliland on the 26th of June, 1960 and will no doubt continue on its path to democracy and good governance.

Yet, there are those, growing fewer with each passing day, who remain implacably opposed to Somaliland´s existence. They point to Somaliland´s lack of international recognition, as if they few hold the key to that particular door. The people of Somaliland hold the key to international recognition, and it is the wish of the people of Somaliland to reclaim their sovereignty which is sacrosanct.

The opponents of Somaliland have gone through shock, denial, anger, bargaining and will finally reach acceptance.

For almost thirty years the people of Somaliland had suffered repression and destruction at the hands of the defunct Somali state, and these opponents claim to be shocked that the people of Somaliland have decided to reclaim their sovereignty. They claim that it is not the only the people of Somaliland who had suffered at the hands of the various governments of the defunct Somali state, but they miss the main point.

In 1960 the people of Somaliland brought their independence to the table in the search of a "Greater Somalia", showing great flexibility in order to achieve that "mirage" and were instead derided for being naïve, and rewarded with injustice and repression which finally culminated in the eventual massacre of its people and destruction of its cities.

The people of Somaliland by reclaiming their sovereignty in 1991 finally drew the curtain on the mirage that was "Greater Somalia" and the fallacy that was the Somali state.

Somaliland´s opponents argue against and deny its existence, but at the same time acknowledge that on the 26th of June 1960, Somaliland became an internationally recognised independent state. In spite of the unratified union with Somalia on the 1st of July 1960, Somaliland was and is once again a sovereign state with a permament population, clearly demarcated borders and functioning state institutions.

The reality of Somaliland´s existence is that for seventeen years it has remained stable, progressive and democratic whilst countless concocted entities laid claim to the defunct Somali state in Mogadishu unable to stop the chaos in Somalia.

These entities have failed because they neither had the moral nor political authority to put an end to the anarchy in Somalia. Instead of learning from Somaliland´s formula of dialogue, discussion and consensus, they have resorted the same modus operandi of the failed Somali state, dictatorship, division and destruction.

It would be utter lunacy for the people of Somaliland to revive a failed political whose policies have lead to death and destruction.

Somaliland has withstood and defeated the might of the defunct Somali state, so a few angry voices in the wilderness spouting the same, old failed policies is not a serious threat to its sovereignty, however, the anger of Somaliland´s opponents has and will take many forms, from armed conflict to political and diplomatic warfare.

In terms of an armed conflict, it is doubtful that Somaliland´s opponents have neither the physical fortitude nor the means to face Somaliland. Aside from terrorism and banditry, they have nothing else to offer against Somaliland, and by resorting to these despicable tactics, they have already lost any credibility.

Political and diplomatic warfare are different matters. The people of Somaliland are aware of the political weapons arrayed against them, however, by engaging the international community, Somaliland has proven, without a shadow of doubt that it is on the road to democracy and good governance.

The people of Somaliland have nothing to fear from their critics, embracing criticism is a mark of political maturity, but when opponents cry Somaliland should not be internationally recognised, whilst the very people they claim to represent are massacred and their homes destroyed. Surely, it is better to restore order in your own home before commenting on your neighbour´s issues.

Furthermore, Somaliland´s inevitable international recognition cannot be delayed by the need to resolve the mayhem in Somalia because the international community is beginning to realise that the various groups in Somalia have no other common ground than their opposition to Somaliland´s recognition. Therefore, Somaliland´s international recognition can only concentrate the minds of those responsible for the anarchy in Somalia.

Somaliland´s opponents are currently at the bargaining stage of the process. These opponents acknowledge, albeit grudgingly, Somaliland´s many achievements, but still cling to the "mirage" of pan-Somalism. They claim that any future relationship between Somaliland and Somalia will address inequalities of the 1960 union, yet, in more than thirty years, those issues couldn´t be resolved and have led to the current situation in the region. Those issues could not be resolved because whilst Somalilanders wanted dialogue, discussion and consensus, the defunct Somali state preferred dictatorship, division and conflict.

The claim of "Somali-ness" that many of Somaliland´s opponents spouse is not a valid argument for pan-Somalism, as "Arabism" is not for pan-Arabism. A political union must be based on more than just cultural or social ties. The people of Somaliland believe that justice and freedom are the cornerstones for a democratic and progressive society, sadly, this is not the case in Somalia, and that is one of the main reasons the union failed and can never be revived.

So, as far the people of Somaliland are concerned, no amount of bargaining can progress and resuscitate a failed notion, "Greater Somalia".

For seventeen years, the people of Somaliland have vindicated their momentous decision in reclaiming sovereignty and nothing that has taken place or will take place in Somalia will change their view.

The people of Somaliland await the inevitable conclusion to their opponents grieving process, acceptance of Somaliland´s sovereignty, and they suspect that with the exception of a few strident voices, most of these opponents have already reached that stage.

Ahmed Kheyre

Somaliland: When A Culture Of Peace Takes Root

2008-07-05T12:55:00.001-07:00

By Makwaia wa Kuhenga

CAN you imagine a place with beggars and jobless people yet just adjacent there are stalls and stalls of money in banknotes including American dollars, British pounds and so forth in the open with no policemen around to secure those stalls of money?

This is the market place in downtown Hargeisa, Somaliland, where I took a walk the other day. In fact, at several of them, the owners were not around -- they had slipped away to say their midday prayers (Dhuhur) -- leaving the stalls to themselves!

In a language best understood back home in Dar es Salaam, I was visiting the money shops -- or bureau de changes -- not in closed door shops with armed guards outside -- but open air ones!
The Somaliland bank notes looked like mitumba (second-hand clothes) at Mchikichini in Dar es Salaam. You can buy any amount of Somaliland shillings or change any amount of foreign exchange without flinching or being suspicious that you are being sold counterfeit money!

As I took a walk while shaking my head incredulously, I ran into several people up and about their businesses not even thinking that they are "swimming" or passing past stalls of money.
I asked my guide if there are cases of theft or robbery with violence in that kind of business. "No.

In fact people can leave their cars for a long time even overnight without worrying of someone stealing the cars or breaking into them," he replied.

Not satisfied, I asked an assortment of businesspeople I had invited to form a panel for my television show interview on the ‘magic formula' that has made people "rationalise" hunger or able to co-exist with poverty and affluence. "This phenomenon you see is a result of the fruits in a situation where a culture of peace takes roots. People have experienced so much suffering and deprivation as a result of war and occupation that they are sub-consciously not prepared to act in a manner that would jeopardise the well-being of others," said one of them.

So this is the country I was visiting -- Somaliland. Then known as British Somaliland, it was granted independence from British colonial rule on June 26, 1960.

Shortly after independence, it entered into a union with its southern neighbour -- formerly Italy ruled Somalia -- with Mogadishu as the capital. The spate of military coups that engulfed the hastily unified Somalia brought in their wake the military dictatorship of the best known Somali military ruler, General Siad Barre, who, as it has now been sadly noted, was the first and last best or worst known leader who led a semblance of government acknowledged by international standards.

What followed after his regime also toppled by coups was a series of clan warlords each claiming to be presidents of Somalia. Under the circumstances, a national liberation movement was taking roots in Northern Somalia or Somaliland as was known during the British colonial rule. The Somaliland National Movement was born and took up arms to correct the hasty union and take a break from the military dictatorship in Mogadishu to reclaim Somaliland.

Ultimately, the movement was triumphant reclaiming Somaliland on May 18, 1991 after a protracted bloody struggle during which intervening period, the city of Hargeisa was flattened by bombardment by the forces of Somalia Mogadishu led at first by General Siad Barre.

This is the Hargeisa I was visiting 17 years after liberation and recovering from the ashes of bombardment and war.

Peace has replaced war and peace in all its senses. What was most inspiring to me was how the people of Somaliland as reflected in the people of the capital city were going about their life courageously and with the attendant dignity.

I happened to attend the independence day -- equivalent to Tanzania's Uhuru/Jamhuri Day every December 9 -- celebrated here every June 26, the day the British granted independence to Somaliland.

It was a low-key event as I noted because there were no military parades as is the case back home where the president would take a salute from the armed forces.

But even then, President Dahin Kahin of Somaliland, threw a state dinner to his citizens -- who in turn staged traditional dances and comedy plays to the audience, which I was also part.
What struck me was the similarities of the comedy Tanzanians see on television by a group called "Ze Comedy", the difference being that this one in Hargeisa this time chose to perform before the president.

Someone was translating for me what they were saying on stage. They were talking of the ever-hiking prices in the markets and petrol stations, which reminded me of the situation at home. But the Somalilanders were pushing home a subtle message for their president to note!

But the best I could do was to sympathise with the Somaliland president whose government's national budget is on self-reliant basis -- there is no 40 per cent component of budgetary support such as enjoyed by my own country, Tanzania from the donor community!

Makwaia wa KUHENGA is a Senior Journalist and Author recently on a visit to Somaliland.

Somaliland: A new perspective

2008-06-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

Somaliland: A new perspective

by Makwaia wa Kuhenga
Daily News
Tanzania

Hargeisa (Qaran news)-
THIS IS my first perspective with a dateline. I am filing in this style deliberately and for a good reason. Not many people know that there are two countries in Africa almost with the same name and the same people.

The most famous one is Somalia whose capital is Mogadishu. It is, to all intent and purposes a collapsed state. War rages in Somalia. But there is Somaliland -- formerly a British colony. The capital is Hargeisa. It is all-peaceful up here.

It is from this spot that I am filing this perspective. I arrived here about a week ago invited by the Government of Somaliland. When I set out on this trip, a friend warned: "Chunga! Risasi huko!" (Beware of bullets!) He had confused my destination to fratricidal Somalia's Mogadishu.

In fact as I landed at Hargeisa airport in Somaliland -- I was nervous. I was nervous throughout my last leg as I transited Addis Ababa boarding Ethiopian Airways all along from Dar es Salaam.
Aboard the flight to Hargeisa, I twitched in my seat nervously worried that the plane could as well be the target of some gunmen lurking somewhere.

But it was not to be. Somaliland is situated on the northern side of the Horn of Africa with the Gulf of Aden to the north, Somalia (Mogadishu) to the east, Ethiopia to the south and west and Djibouti to the north-west is as peaceful with people going about their normal activities as anywhere under the sun.

There were few planes as I landed at the tarmac of Hargeisa airport -- in fact a couple of charter planes were on the tarmac, one of which I learned later had brought into the country a British Minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth office.

The news bolstered my nerves a little because it gave me both pleasure and confidence that the big boys of the world were interested in this place after all in spite of the fact that Somaliland is yet to be recognized by both the United Nations and the African Union - AU.

Someone came right to the foot of the plane paging my name and I beckoned on him. Soon I was shaking the hands of a couple of officials who had come to receive me -- the Director-General of the Somaliland state television and the newly appointed Consul-General of Somaliland to Tanzania, Mr Ige Ibrahim.

I was ushered in to the VIP lounge -- grinning and happy with myself that journalists too deserve VIP treatment! (Yes, don't we? We are the ones who do the first draft of history!)

The ride to town began soon after my passport was stamped. It was a very interesting experience. Here was a town quite literally located downhill (Bondeni) as Hargeisa is surrounded by mountains looking quite novel at the end of one's eyesight.

The first impression about the town appeared to me like Zanzibar or Unguja town rolled into two. Traffic was sparse but busy. People went about their business normally and at peace with themselves. I saw some traffic lights and some men in uniform with whistles whom I believed to be traffic policemen.

Here people drive on the right -- which is scary for people coming from countries like mine, which keep to the left when driving.

As we drove along, one of my hosts pointed to me the remains of a MIG fighter hoisted up above in the air. "This is the remains of a fighter jet plane by the army of Gen Siad Barre as he sought to pacify the people of Hargeisa to succumb to his rule in Mogadishu," he told me.

Gen Siad Barre was the military leader of Somalia and actually the last best-known Somali Head of State before the disappearance of the Somalia entity, an ill-fated union between the former Italian colonized Somalia with British Somaliland at independence in 1960.

I also saw bullet ridden houses which still hang around in downtown Hargeisa -- reminding people and visitors that it was not all well in the intervening two decades.

The route from the airport into downtown was an indicator that one was visiting an impoverished state standing out alone in the world unrecognized but "deciding to recognize itself" as its Minister for Economic Planning, Mr Ali Ibrahim told me in the course of my visit.
In fact, lack of affluence is something one notes as I did when I visited a couple of Government Ministries including the state television station.

It is so rudimentary, I noted but still people are managing a smile and working with as little Spartan resources at their disposal. I imagined what a Tanzanian Minister would feel when confronted with an office with the barest and most modest furniture.

"I am dead sure some of our ministers would refuse to occupy the offices until they were well furnished to their taste," I reflected allowing myself a discreet chuckle.

But here is a country soldiering on -- depending on own meager resources -- deriving from livestock which is a major preoccupation of the three million people of Somaliland who are basically pastoralists.

In fact I learnt in the course of my stay that it is Somali people in the Diaspora who are also making a major contribution in terms of subvention to their fellow country people.

There is no donor community to count on except a few multilateral UN agencies who are in Somaliland involved in humanitarian support and that is about all. There is no foreign embassy in Somaliland because the country is yet to be granted formal recognition by the United Nations and African Union.

But this sad predicament, in a sense is hidden strength for Somaliland because the spirit of self-reliance is being imbued from the word go.

Makwaia wa KUHENGA is a Senior Journalist and Author currently on a visit to Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Interview with Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, the former Somali Air Force pilot..

2008-06-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Interview with Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, the former Somali Air Force pilot who refused an order to bomb Hargeisa in 1988.

Jun 22

Hargeisa (QARAN) -

Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, a former Somalia Air Force pilot who refused an order to bomb the civilian residents of Hargeisa in 1988 and instead decided to defect to Djibouti returned to Hargeisa after 20 years overseas. The following are excerpts of an interview Ahmed Mohamed gave to Ogaal newspaper recently whilst staying at Imperial Hotel in Hargeisa.

Question: Ahmed Mohamed thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, I wonder if you could give our readers a brief background of the situation in 1988 which forced you disobey orders to bomb Hargeisa and subsequently defect to Djibouti with your plane?

Answer: It is my pleasure and I want to thank you for this opportunity. In 1988 there was a civil war in Somalia, but the period in question, the time of my defection, was the time of the heaviest fighting between the government forces and the opposition forces of the Somali National Movement. It was a time of fierce battles and I think only those who had experienced this first hand can attest to the situation in Hargeisa and its surrounding areas.

Q: When where you first transferred to Hargeisa to take part in the fighting?

A: I was not transferred to Hargeisa, I and another Somali pilot were ordered to fly our Mig 17 jets to Hargeisa to take part in the bombardment of the city. There were already air force technicians in Hargeisa, but other pilot and I were ordered to fly to Hargeisa to take part in the bombardment of the city and its residents. The Mig 17 jets were the only planes in the Somali Air Force that could carry the heavy 500 kilo bombs intended for the bombardment of the city. Unfortunately, this was a sad chapter in my life and in our history, and it pains me to remember, but it is an issue that needs to be discussed.

Q: When did you decide to take your plane to Djibouti instead of bombarding Hargeisa and its residents?

J: It was the day I arrived in July, 1988; I think it was on the 10th of July 1988. On that day we departed from Mogadishu air force base and headed north, we landed in Galkaico, for refuelling and rest. We arrived in Hargeisa around 5pm on the same day. After spending the night at Hargeisa airport, we were told to get ready for bombing sorties the next day. The next day, I reported a technical problem on my plane, whilst the other plane began to bombard Hargeisa and its residents. The second day, after the technicians had finished checking my plane, I was ordered to prepare for my mission, and it was on this day that between 12-1pm that I headed for Djibouti.

Q: So, on this second day, as you departed Hargeisa airport you were under orders to complete your mission by bombarding the city and its residents?

A: Yes, on this day my plane passed inspection and was fitted with FAB 500 bombs. I also want to mention that on the previous afternoon, were given a briefing on the areas in Hargeisa which we were to bomb. In this briefing, certain parts of the city were of a high priority targets. We therefore took off in tandem from the airport and headed for city below in order to commence bombing of the city. We headed west in order to begin our approach from that direction towards to the city. At this time, I set a course for Djibouti. The decision to fly to Djibouti was not made in mid-flight, but it was a decision I took previously. In order to reach my Djibouti I needed to preserve fuel, so I decided to jettison the FAB 500 bombs on the plane. I dumped the bombs just beyond the Nasa-Hablod mountain range towards the east of the city. The bombs fell harmlessly because they were not primed. After dumping the bombs, I headed west toward Djibouti. It took around fifteen to eighteen minutes to reach my destination. As my intended destination grew closer, I began to prepare for landing. I was running out of fuel, so I decided to make an emergency landing on the beach instead of an airport.

Q: When you flew over Hargeisa, what was the situation on the ground like?

A: As you know Hargeisa airport overlooks the city and before I took off, I went up to the tower to take a look at the city. At that time the city was burning, there was heavy destruction in every section, frankly, to me, it looked like a cemetery. Although it was almost 20 years ago, it was an unforgettable sight, it was a terrible sight.

Q: What were some of the areas you recall from looking across the city?

A: I recall that a friend of mine requested my help in assisting his father-in-law to try and leave the city. My friend told me the area of his in-laws residence. It was in one of the priority target areas. In my mind this was madness, this was only something a mad person can do, bomb innocent civilians. Really, it was tragic time which is beyond comprehension, only those who were there can describe the magnitude of the situation.

Q: Were you the only pilot abroad Mig 17?

A: Yes, the Mig 17 has a training plane and a fighter plane. The training plane has two flight cockpits. The fighter has only one. So, I was the only person on the plane.

Q: Did you contact Djibouti tower prior to your arrival?

A: By Allah, I had no communication with Djibouti; the communication on my plane was linked to Hargeisa tower controlled by the Somali armed forces at that time. I was unable to contact Djibouti tower. Therefore it was my intention to land the plane in Djibouti, if I could find an airstrip or not, even if I had to parachute out of the plane! I had several contingencies, but really, it was a case of whatever it takes to get to Djibouti.

Q: So, your plan was to land the plane if possible and jump out?

A: Yes, that was the plan. But, when it becomes necessary to land on the beach due to the fuel situation which had by then finished, it was an easier landing without serious difficulties.

Q: During your flight to Djibouti did you not receive any communications from the airport in Hargeisa?

A: Yes, the airport in Hargeisa did contact me just I had passed over the Nasa-Hablood range, but I informed them that my plane had developed technical difficulties and then I switched off the radio link to the airport because I was already preceding with my own plans.

Q: How did the Djibouti government receive you?

A: After landed, I came across some fishermen who took me to the city (Djibouti) in their boats. At the same time, I was received by the government of Djibouti in a cordial and brotherly manner.

Q: Didn't the Djibouti forces monitor your incursion into their airspace?

A: Perhaps they did, but I did advise the Djibouti authorities of the location of the Mig 17. I was de-briefed by the Djibouti forces and was interviewed by the local media including the television service.

Q: What happened after your reception by the Djibouti authorities?

A: After my reception by the Djibouti government, my situation became the responsibility of the United Nations offices in Djibouti. However, it is worth mentioning that was I not detained by the Djibouti authorities and was free to go about my business in the country. But, due to security reasons, I decided that it would prudent to find a new country of residence with the help of the United Nations offices in Djibouti.

Q: Did the Somali government request your repatriation?

A: Yes, they did. However, their request was rejected by the Djibouti government. I was informed by the Djiboutian home affairs minister that since I decided not to bomb innocent civilians: they will also save me from any harm.

Q: After your transfer to the United Nations agencies, where was your next destination?

A: The United Nation agencies decided to find a third country that will accept me as a refugee. I had no preference and I was happy with any safe place. After a short period, I was fortunate to receive acceptance from Luxembourg, where I still live today with my family.

Q: If you did carry out your mission to bomb Hargeisa, considering the amount weapons abroad your fighter jet, what do you think that damage may have been?

A: It would have been extensive. Furthermore, the plans were, and as we now know, not just one sortie, but several, as many as possible. There was no anti-aircraft fire from the residents of Hargeisa; they were civilians in their homes.

Q: At that time, the defunct Somali government still had some power, therefore, was there any attempt against you in your new home in Luxembourg?

A: No, really, there was no fear because there are not many Somalis in Luxembourg, and to be frank, the ability of the Somali government was not at that level. I really felt safe in my new home in Luxembourg.

Q: Did any of the opposition movement contact you? Or at the very least praise your actions?

A: By Allah, I never met any of the opposition movements in an official capacity, I did meet one or two members who praised my action. But, really, I don't see anything that requires praise; it was my duty as a human being to save the lives of other defenceless and innocent people. I refused to be vessel for destruction. It is only other people who make my actions seem heroic.

Q: To your knowledge, did any other fellow air force pilots follow your example?

A: I had heard that another plane from the Somali air force landed in Djibouti on its way to another location. However, the plane and its passengers who included members of the army logistic and supply corps were returned to Somalia. That is the only other incident I recall.

Q: Now that you have returned to Hargeisa, what are your memories and impressions?

A: I arrived in Hargeisa yesterday, and I am very, very happy to be here. I am also touched by the reception from the people of Hargeisa and Somaliland. I am grateful to see the peace and stability in Somaliland, and I encourage the people of Somaliland to maintain it. It is an example to all the nations in the region.
I had left a city in ruins and returned to a risen city. I thank and praise the people of Somaliland.

Ogaal

International Republic Institute(IRI) opens office in Somaliland

2008-06-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Jun 20 2008

Hargeisa(QARAN)-

The International Republic Institute(IRI) has formallyopened a new office in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.The International Republic Institute is a non-profit, nonpartisan organisation dedicated to advancing freedom anddemocracy worldwide by helping to support civicinstitutions, open elections and good governance.

At a reception held at the Mansoor Hotel in Hargeisaattended by senior members of the Somaliland government,members of the Somaliland parliament, party officials,social activist, members of the press and other guest, theSpeaker of the Somaliland parliament, Mudane AbdirahmanMohamed Abdillahi welcomed the opening of the new IRI office in Somaliland.

In a his brief remarks at the ceremony, Speaker AbdirahmanMohamed stated that IRI has always played a significantrole in the democratic development of Somaliland and byopening an office in the country has shown its support ofthe country's democratic credentials.

Speaker Abdirahman Mohamed concluded his remarks bypledging the support of the people of Somaliland towardsIRI's efforts in the country and encouraged the peopleof Somaliland to safeguard and maintain the stability which has made Somaliland a beacon of hope in a volatile region.

The IRI director for East Africa, Mr. Ted Levassiur alsospoke at the ceremony to mark the opening of the new IRIoffice in Hargeisa. Mr.Levassiur outlined recentco-operation between Somaliland and IRI including thehistoric presidential and parliamentary elections in 2003and 2005 respectively.

The opening of the IRI office in Hargeisa is seen by manyas sign of further engagement between Somaliland and otherinternational institutions.

SomalilandPress

Somaliland ministers attend ceremonies for graduating students in Buroa and Hargeisa

2008-06-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Jun 20, 2008

Buroa(QARAN)-
The Somaliland Health minister, Mudane Abdi Haibe Mohamed participated in a ceremony to honour 31 new graduates from Burco's Health School.

The ceremony held at Barqawo Hotel in Buroa was attended by dignitaries including senior members of the Somaliland government, members of the Somaliland parliament, the Governor of Togdher region, officers from the regional health committee and other guests.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mudane Abdi Haibe praised the efforts of the residents of Togdher region in raising the commitment to the education of the youth of Somaliland. Mudane Abdi Haibe congratulated the graduating students and encouraged them to use their newly gained knowledge and skills towards improving the health sector in Somaliland.

In conclusion, Mudane Abdi Haibe, the Somaliland Health minister thanked the Togdher regional committee and the business community in Somaliland, in particular Dahabshiil financial services for their contribution towards furthering the development of the health sector in the country.

Other dignitaries attending the ceremony included the Somaliland Commerce minister, Mudane Osman Qasim Qo'dah, Marwo Baar Saeed Warsame, a member of Somaliland parliament, Mudane Jama Abdillahi Bin, Governor of Togdher, Dr. Isse Nur Liban, a member of the regional health committee, Marwo Edna Aden Ismail of Edna's maternity hospital and Dr. Abdi Aw
Dahir.

Hargeisa(QARAN)-

The Somaliland minister of Planning, Mudane Ali Ibrahim Mohamed participated in a ceremony to honour 250 students graduating from Al Khayr middle school in Hargeisa.The ceremony held at Ambassador Hotel brought together the administration, teachers and students from Al Khayr middle school, parents and other guests.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mudane Ali Ibrahim congratulated the graduating students on their achievements and encouraged them to continue their education in order to fulfil their potential.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Abdirahman Omar, the principal of Al Khayr middle school gave a presentation regarding the convocating class including the completion of their courses in English, Mathematics, Computer Technology in 2007/2008 school year.

A Senior delegation from the UK arrives in Somaliland

2008-06-18T10:45:00.001-07:00

Jun 18, 2008

Hargeisa (QRN)-The Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth for African Affairs, Mr. Kim Howells MP and his delegation arrived this morning at Egal International airport. The delegation met with the President of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin at the Presidency in Hargeisa.

At the meeting with President Rayale, the British delegation led by Mr. Kim Howells discussed issues of interest to both nations and the relationship between Somaliland and the United Kingdom.

The delegation was met at the airport by the Somaliland Foreign minister, Mudane Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, Home Affairs minister, Mudane Abdillahi Ismail Ali, Civil Aviation minister, Mudane Mohamed Ali Warran'adde, the Mayor of Hargeisa, Mudane Hussein Mohamud Ji'ir, and senior protocol and security officials from the Somaliland government.

The British delegation led by Mr. Kim Howells met with members of the Somaliland government, opposition parties, parliament, the national elections commission and members of the civil society during their short visit to Somaliland.

This is not the first visit by a senior British minister to Somaliland, Lord Mullins visited the country in 2004 whilst African Affairs minister at FCO. There was also a visit by a cross-party
British parliamentarians led by Mr. Tony Baldry MP in 2003.

The visit by Mr. Kim Howells and his delegation follows recent visits by senior British diplomats, including Ambassador Norman Ling, to Somaliland during last few weeks.
.
Attending the meeting with the United Kingdom delegation were the Somaliland Vice-President Mudane Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, Finance minister, Mudane Hussien Ali Duale and the Planning minister, Mudane Ali Ibrahim.

The United Kingdom delegation included, Ms. Tiu Morris from the Foreign and Commonwealth, Mr. John Marshall, deputy ambassador at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa and several senior diplomats.

Source Qarannews

Somaliland President receives UNDP delegation

2008-06-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Jun 12, 2008

The President of the Republic of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin hosted an official reception for a delegation from the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) last night at the Presidency in Hargeisa.

The UNDP delegation included Mr.Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, Director for the UNDP office for the Arab region, Mr. Mark Bowden, coordinator for the UNDP Humanitarian office, Mr. Bruno Lemarquis, Somaliland and Somalia office cordinator and several other senior officers from the UNDP office in Hargeisa.

The UNDP delegation are on a short visit to Somaliland to evaluate the current UNDP projects in the country.

Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye gave a brief statement to thank the government and the people of Somaliland for the warm welcome afforded to the delegation during their stay in Somaliland and also praised Somaliland for the security and stability currently prevailing in the nation.

Mr. Mar Dieye also stated that the UNDP has been able to increase its funding for projects in Somaliland during this fiscal year.

In response, the President of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin thanked the UNDP office for its continued support of the development in Somaliland and gave an overview of the nation's recovery from the destruction at the hands of the Barre regime during the civil war between 1988-1991.

President Rayale also stated that it is the aim of Somaliland to continue on its democratic path coupled with good governance and strong social development through dialogue, discussion and consensus.

Mudane Rayale assured the visiting delegation that the upcoming Somaliland Presidential and local assembly elections will be held as declared in the recent tri-party agreement.

In conclusion, President Rayale requested that the UNDP and other UN agencies take further steps to assist Somaliland in combating the global increase in food and fuel prices, especially since Somaliland does not receive direct aid due its lack of international recognition.

Attendees at the official reception for the UNDP delegation included, Madame Huda Burkhad, the first lady, and several senior Somaliland ministers including, Mudane Hussien Ali Duale, the Finance minister, Mudane Ali Ibrahim, the Minister of Planning, Mudane Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, the Foreign Minister and staff from the President's protocol office.

Source Qarannews

New Water Complex In Hargeisa,Somaliland

2008-06-12T12:33:00.001-07:00

Jun 12, 2008

Hargeisa(QARAN)-

The Somaliland Minister of Water and Natural Resources, Mudane Qassim Sheikh Yusuf Ibrahim accompanied by the Somaliland ministers of Agriculture, Mudane Aden Ahmed Elmi and Presidency, Mudane Nur Amin paid a visit to the site of a new water complex currently under construction towards south of Hargeisa.

Speaking to the media at the site, Mudane Qassim Sheikh Yusuf stated that this new complex will help to alleviate any shortages in water for the residents of Hargeisa and the surrounding areas.

Mudane Qassim Sheikh Yusuf also stated that the equipment being used in the construction were donated by the UAE Red Crescent society through the offices of its chair Sheikh Hamdan and follows the visit made to that country earlier in 2008 by the Somaliland President Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin.

According to the engineers overseeing the projects the new well has reached water after drilling for less then 15 days and has reached a level of 300 metres of the final distance of 400 metres. The engineers are confident of reaching sufficient water reserves which will be able to sustain the needs of the residents of Hargeisa and its environs.

The Somaliland ministers thanked the UAE Red Crescent society, Sheikh Hamdan and all the staff at the new complex construction site. There has been confirmation from the Somaliland ministry of Water and Natural Resources on plans for several other similar complexes across the country.

Source Qarannews

The Somaliland government and opposition parties sign new accord.

2008-06-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Jun 11, 2008

Hargeisa(QARAN)-

The Somaliland government and the opposition parties, KULMIYE and UCID have formally signed a new accord at a ceremony in Hargeisa.

At the ceremony held at the Maansor Hotel conference centre and attended by the Somaliland Vice-President Mudane Ahmed Yusuf Yasin, senior members of the Somaliland government, The chair of UCID party, Mudane Faisal Ali Warabe, the deputy chair of KULMIYE, Mudane Muse Bihi Abdi, religious scholars, members of the Somaliland parliament, the Ethiopian ambassador in Somaliland and other guest, the final agreement between all three Somaliland parties, KULMIYE, UCID and the ruling party UDUB was formally signed.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mudane Ahmed Yusuf Yasin paid tribute to all those who had participated in the dialogue, discussion and consensus which have led to the formulation of this accord.Mudane Ahmed Yusuf stated that this agreement will bring a lasting resolution to the recent debates in Somaliland and will enable the National Elections Commission to continue its mandate to administer free and fair elections across the country.

Vice-President Ahmed Yusuf Yasin concluded his brief remarks by stating that all Somalilanders should rejoice as the result of this agreement and continue to follow the time tested formula for resolving any issues through dialogue, discussion and consensus whilst at the same time aware of the difficult economic times not only in Somaliland but across globe affecting food and fuel prices.

Other dignitaries who also made brief comments at the signing of the new accord between the three Somaliland parties included, Mudane Faisal Ali Warabe, chair of the UCID party and Mudane Muse Bihi Abdi, deputy chair of the KULMIYE party who also both paid tribute to the Somaliland people for assuring that recent political debates have been resolved through dialogue, discussion and consensus.

The signatories of the new accord between the three Somaliland parties were as follows:-
For UDUB : The Somaliland Vice-President Mudane Ahmed Yusuf Yasin
For UCID: The Chair of the Party, Mudane Faisal Ali WarabeFor KULMIYE:
The deputy Chair of the Party, Mudane Muse Bihi Abdi
For Somaliland National Elections Commission: Chair, Mohamed Ismail

The main points of the agreement:

1. The Presidential elections will precede the local assembly elections.
2. The voter registration process will completed prior to local assembly elections.
3. The Somaliland National Elections Commission(NEC) will set the date the Presidential elections after the completion of the voter registration process.
4. The Somaliland Presidential election must be take place before 6th of April 2009.
5. Voter registration laws concerning the Somaliland Presidential elections which cannot be implemented in time must be rescinded.
6. The creation of a committee consisting of members from the NEC and the three Somaliland parties to resolve any unforeseen issues relating to the elections, with the added proviso that the Somaliland House of Elders will ratify the committees resolution without extension.
7. The creation of a standing technical committee consisting of one member from each Somaliland party to facilitate co-operation between the Somaliland government and the opposition parties. The first three nominees of the standing technical committee are as follows:

1. Mudane Ismail Bulaale, Secretary-General, UDUB
2. Mudane Aden Mohamed Mire, Deputy Chair, UCID
3. Mudane Abdirahman Abdilqadir Farah, 2nd Deputy Chair, KULMIYE

In general the Somaliland public both at home and abroad have welcomed the settlement of the recent political debates in the country heralded by this accord.

Source Qarannews

British Diplomats from UK Embassies in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen visit Somaliland

2008-06-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Jun 10, 2008

Hargeisa - A large delegation of British diplomats from United Kingdom embassies in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen have arrived on a visit to Somaliland.

The delegation led by Mr.John Marshall, deputy ambassador at the British embassy in Addis Ababa were met at Egal International Airport by the Somaliland Foreign Minister, Mudane Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, the Minister of State, Saeed Mohamed Nur and senior members from the ministry including the protocol department.

Speaking briefly to the gather media at the Egal International Airport in Hargeisa, Mudane Abdillahi Duale stated that the British diplomats are on a visit to Somaliland as part of the strengthening of the ties between the two nations.

Mudane Abdillahi Duale, the Somaliland Foreign minister also stated that the delegation will be in Somaliland for the next two days and will also visit the port of Berbera.

In other news, the Director-General of the Somaliland Foreign Ministry, Mudane Awil Muhumed Farah also confirmed that the Somaliland Foreign minister also met with a delegation from the European Development Commission (EDC) yesterday in Hargiesa.

Source Qarannews

Somaliland: Dynamic and Progressive

2008-06-09T12:16:00.000-07:00

Recently, the Somaliland House of Representatives approved the 2008 annual budget. A remarkable achievement for an unrecognised nation, this budget will see an increase of 27% from the 2007 budget. It would appear that the Somaliland Ministry of Finance is steadily increasing revenue whilst at the same increase spending on social, health and economic sectors.

Admittedly there are areas of improvement, including but not limited to the banking sector. But, the main thing is that Somaliland is managing to steadily increase its revenue and which is leading to a rise in the national domestic production. True to its democratic credentials, the budget went before the House of Representatives for scrutiny and eventual approval, how many nations in Africa or for that matter in the world can boast of such an adherence to good governance.

However, there are critics of the recent budget and their criticism is based on certain perceived "oversights". The budget is a financial plan for spending for the next annual fiscal year, and a nation can only spend what it has, that is why Somaliland is virtually debt free.

The Somaliland government's economic strategy is somewhat hampered by the fact that country doesn't yet enjoy international recognition and therefore cannot use the normal channels for aid and loans, but this appears to be a blessing in disguise, it has kept the nation debt free.

The Somaliland government has been criticised by some for spending a large proportion of its budget on security; perhaps these critics have failed to appreciate the nature of Somaliland's existence and its location. These critics need to be reminded that Somaliland has enjoyed seventeen years of continuous peace and stability in a volatile region of Africa, and without proper allocation of funds for security, there will not be stability let alone a budget.

Somaliland faces many obstacles and challenges, but it is important to remember that barely seventeen years ago Somaliland had to rise from the rubble of destructions. The development that Somaliland enjoys today is the direct result of national initiatives which has been community led and assisted by sympathetic international nations and aid agencies. Previous Somaliland governments have laid the foundations for the remarkable stability of the nation, the rapid improvement of the infrastructure, the burgeoning economic and educational sectors, and all within a budget of less than $100,000,000 dollars!

Without prudent management of its meagre funds and the constant self-sacrifice made by the people of Somaliland there wouldn’t peace and stability, nor schools, hospitals, teachers, law and order, parliament, roads and so on.

As Somaliland's economy grows and revenue increases there will be a substantial reduction in security spending relative to other spending. Somalilanders as a whole are grateful that there is a budget which enables the government to protect the nation’s sovereignty, and if the Somaliland military receives as some critics suggest a large portion of the nation’s budget, then perhaps these critics can explain to the people of Somaliland how the nation can protected from the mayhem in the region?

Somaliland has recently reached an agreement with the World Bank and donor nations on a five year programme of Reconstruction and Rehabilitation programme estimated at $550 million dollars which will help Somaliland to improve its infrastructure, economy and social facilities. However, for the time being, like many nations Somaliland is facing many problems such as an increase in oil prices, increase in food prices and inflation.

The government of Somaliland recently eased the taxes and restriction of food and fuel imports to allow the business sector to meet the demands of the public. The government has also taken steps to combat against hording and price fixing. It is worth mentioning that there were no food riots in Somaliland as compared to many other places across the region.

The government of Somaliland has also taken steps to explore its natural resources and has recently conducted an extensive seismic survey which has led to agreements for exploration with foreign based oil companies. There have also been new developments in water resources, including a new complex at Las Anod, and plans for additional complexes across the country.

In terms of agriculture and livestock sector which are predominantly in the private sector, it is the policy of the Somaliland government to assist, regulate and facilitate these sectors. Both the Somaliland ministries of agriculture and livestock have taken steps to develop these vital economics sectors by providing facilities and developmental assistance.

In terms of livestock and animal husbandry these new developments includes the recent inoculation programme across Somaliland and the new animal export processing centre in Berbera.

Somaliland's ministry of agriculture has taken positive steps in assisting Somaliland's farmers with help of the international agencies in training, machinery and developmental tools.

The people and the government of Somaliland, along with the assistance of the international community are waging a successful campaign against HIV/Aids and other pandemics through local initiatives led by the youth of the country.

There has been a great improvement in Somaliland's health infrastructure through government initiatives in areas such as refurbishment of existing health facilities in Sanaag, Sool and other rural locations and through international aid and private enterprise, the creation of non-profit facilities such as Edna's Maternity Hospital> and Manhal Speciality Hospital and clinics.

Somaliland has recently completed a child inoculation programme across the country, as well as, becoming a destination for patients from the Horn of Africa seeking medical attention in Hargeisa, Buroa and Borama.

The educational sector of Somaliland has also seen a marked improvement. There are currently five accredited universities, a comprehensive primary, middle and secondary education which have lead to record enrolment. The re-opening of technical schools in Buroa, Borama and Berbera are on the horizon.

Somaliland's communications facilities have also gradually improved. The recent upgrade of both Egal International Airport and the Port of Berbera will see an increase in revenue and traffic over the new few years. There have also been government, local and community driven initiatives to upgrade the road networks of Somaliland in places such as Berbera, Borama and Las Anod.

The economic sector in Somaliland is both dynamic and inventive. Aside for the normal business sectors such as production, wholesale and retail, there are remarkable new developments in telecommunications (for example Somaliland boast's the best and cheapest cellular network in Africa) and the proposed fibre optic cable installation will allow the industry to reach its potential and create> employment across the country.

There also has been a marked improvement in Tourism and> Culture. The development of the Las Geel caves and other> ancient sites along with Somaliland potential as a> destination for deep sea diving along the Red Sea coast> will see a substantial change in the tourism sector.> > Once again it important to emphasis that Somaliland is a> poor and under developed country with a miniscule annual> budget and without international recognition as of yet,> However, Somaliland critics must also exercise some> responsibility and admit to the nations achievements. > > Some of the developments mentioned in this article are> merely the tip of the ice, everyday across Somaliland jobs> are being created from construction to fishing, from the> service industry to transportation, children go to school, and> people go about their daily lives in peace and security. For> a nation recovering from the destructions of a brutal civil> war to free itself from a failed and unjust union,> Somaliland has come a long way.> > However, Somaliland has a long road ahead, but its future> is bright due to the democratic path chosen by its> citizens, and without security and stability its> achievements wouldn't have been possible.>

Somaliland seeks a little respect

2008-06-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Somaliland seeks a little respect

Written by Paul Salopek
Chicago Tribune

Jun 08, 2008

HARGEISA, Somaliland — Somalia isn't supposed to be this normal.Untroubled by petty crime, money changers in this quiet desert city leave their stacks of currency unattended—in piles the size of refrigerators — while they pray in mosques.Earnest government officials, elected in what may be the cleanest voting in Africa, eagerly meet reporters in roadside cafes, a practice that would be suicidal in the violent south of the country, where occupying Ethiopian troops do battle with a ferocious Islamist insurgency. (Even more unusual, the officials insist on picking up the tab for camel-milk tea.)

Across town, another private university is being planned—the sixth in the region. It won't teach the Quran, unlike the few other surviving educational facilities in war-ruined Somalia. Instead, its curriculum will be secular and American—pinched from Portland State University in Oregon, to be exact

"This is what frustrates us," said Dahir Rayale Kahin, president of the obscure self-declared republic of Somaliland, a parched enclave the size of Oklahoma that proclaimed its independence from Somalia in 1991 and is angling to become a platform for U.S. power in the region."We are a functioning state, but the world still ignores us. Instead, it props up a failed state in the south, in Mogadishu, a place with no rule of law, a state that is nothing."

Remote, desperately poor and unrecognized by any country—yet astonishingly stable and free—the separatist republic of Somaliland marked 17 years of democratic self-rule last month, a remarkable milestone of good governance that served to remind its few Western visitors, wistfully, of what's missing in the rest of Somalia: airports that aren't mortared by rebels, streets that are safe to walk at night, votes that are counted fairly, and a fledgling army that has managed, so far, to trump the divisive Somali obsession with tribe and clan.

Not everyone is celebrating.The U.S.-backed transitional federal government of Somalia, which theoretically rules this shattered nation from the war-gutted capital of Mogadishu, condemns Somaliland's leaders as traitors and renegades. And local and international human-rights groups have noted that Kahin, Somaliland's second president, has become more authoritarian in the past year, jailing and then pardoning local opposition politicians and reporters.

But as the United States struggles to contain the threat of Islamic terrorism in Somalia—and in the rest of the volatile Horn of Africa—dusty Somaliland, population 3.5 million, has stepped up as an unlikely partner in that Herculean task.Stretching across the north of Somalia along the blistering-hot shores of the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland recently offered its derelict port of Berbera as a base for the Pentagon's new Africa Command, or AFRICOM. The Pentagon, which already operates a counterterrorism base in neighboring Djibouti, has yet to respond to the proposal.

Welcome to oil firms

Somaliland's government also has invited U.S. oil companies to reclaim their 1980s exploration rights in the region, abandoned during the civil wars that led to Somalia's collapse. So far no companies have returned, citing legal concerns about Somalia's claim of sovereignty over the region.

For the same reason, Somaliland receives little foreign aid.Washington must walk a tightrope in its relations with a rustic statelet that covers about a quarter of Somalia and is inhabited primarily by camel and goat herders.Officially, the Bush administration has deferred the issue of Somaliland's independence to the African Union, which has a historic aversion to tinkering with old colonial borders on the continent. Angry Somalilanders argue that they actually are restoring their colonial boundaries: The region was a British protectorate that joined with Italian-ruled Somalia in 1960.

It is partly that history, Somaliland elders say, that girds their mini-state against Somalia's violence and chaos. While the Italians undercut tribal authority, allowing young warlords to seize power, the British left old clan structures intact. Somaliland's nascent government now includes a council of elders, or Guurti, that helps resolve disputes.

Still, U.S. policymakers fear that allowing Somaliland to become Africa's newest country would sink the already feeble transitional government of Somalia, which is propped up by U.S. cash and troops from the African Union and another U.S. ally, Ethiopia.Ethiopian forces, aided by U.S. intelligence, installed Somalia's unpopular federal authorities 18 months ago after an invasion that toppled a conservative Islamic movement.

Since then, thousands of people have died—and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes—in a stubborn Islamist rebellion.Except in Somalia's strangely placid north.

America's 'only real friend'"I don't know why America ignores its only real friend in the region," said Mustafa Farah, a youth chewing khat, a popular narcotic leaf, in Somaliland's self-designated capital of Hargeisa. "You could walk with an American flag across this city and nobody would bother you. We like Americans."

In fact, many Somalilanders are Americans.Though statistics are scarce, the regional government here estimates that as many as 100,000 Somaliland expatriates may live in the United States. Some of the region's parliament members speak English with cornfield-flat Minnesota accents. Entrepreneurs building the new university are modeling their classes on those of their alma mater in Portland, Ore.Remittances sent to local families from the United States and elsewhere are believed to dwarf the Somaliland government's annual budget of $50 million—a figure roughly equivalent to U.S. funding for fighting brush fires this year in San Diego County, Calif.

For its part, the State Department has allocated $1 million to help Somaliland organize its next presidential race, to be held no later than April 2009. It will be the region's fourth round of elections since declaring independence. No free elections have been held elsewhere in Somalia for almost 40 years.Somaliland's experiment with democracy hasn't been without glitches.The president faced criticism last year for imprisoning three journalists on charges of defamation.

Three politicians also were held after trying to form a new opposition party. The government quietly released the men, fearing their arrest had damaged its bid for international recognition."We will go ahead with our elections and we will never give up," Kahin, the Somaliland leader, said while relaxing at the presidential palace one recent evening. "We are a patient people."Wrapped in a traditional sarong-like skirt and stirring a cup of tea, he cited Kosovo and East Timor as recent models for achieving independence. He noted that those fledgling states had separated from viable countries—whereas Somaliland simply wanted a divorce from the wreckage of Somalia.

Outside, in a handmade republic in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the world, the city's generator-powered lights punctually kicked on. And among the mosques' amplified calls to prayer there came the tinny strains of hip-hop.

chicagotribune.

Somaliland: The US and Somaliland: A Roadmap

2008-06-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

Somaliland: The US and Somaliland: A Roadmap

Written by UNPO
Jun 06, 2008 at 03:50 PM
Preeminent international affairs commentator, Dr J Peter Pham, provides an overview of recent strong strides made by the government of Somaliland in gaining international recognition, with particular focus on its relationship with the US, and provides a roadmap for the aspiring state for what further steps it can take to facilitate this movement.
Below is an extract from an article published by World Defense Review:
[…]
In January [2008], the president of the Republic of Somaliland, Dahir Rayale Kahin, accompanied by his foreign minister, Abdillahi Mohamed Duale, and several other members of his cabinet were invited to Washington for a visit that was officially acknowledged by the U.S. Department of State.
[…]
Barely two weeks later, on February 3 [2008], Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, arrived in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa, with Ambassador John M. Yates, a veteran diplomat based in Nairobi, Kenya, who is America's special envoy for Somalia (the U.S. envoy to Ethiopia, Ambassador Don Yamamoto, preceded the pair by one day). Dr. Frazer, the highest-ranking U.S. official to set foot in the republic since it reasserted its independence in 1991, spent the day holding formal talks with top government officials as well as meeting privately with representatives of Somaliland's three registered political parties – the Union of Democrats (UDUB), the Peace, Unity, and Development Party (KULMIYE), and the Party of Justice (UCID) – and the unregistered "Qaran" political movement.
[…]
A few days after Dr. Frazer's visit, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced that it would "expand substantially activities designed to improve the lives of citizens of Somaliland," pledging "resources amounting to twice those spent in 2007 will be spent on projects focusing on the rule of law and security, democratic governance and on recovery and sustainable livelihoods, as well as on additional staff to increase the range of the ambitious programme in different regions of Somaliland" in concert "with the Somaliland government and other UN agencies."
Dr. Frazer was careful to emphasize that the recent flurry of activity did not imply diplomatic recognition was imminent, noting that while "we have said on many occasions that the U.S. will continue to work with Somaliland, in particular, in the strong democratic values which Somaliland has succeeded in implementing," the issue of recognition should be left to the African Union (AU), while America would "work with the AU and will respect whatever decision it makes on Somaliland's status." […] [The] AU is simply unable to actually address the matter as long as it continues to seat the utterly ineffectual "Transitional Federal Government" (TFG) of Somalia, which asserts sovereignty over the entire territory of the defunct Somali Democratic Republic despite being unable to so much as safely police its putative capital. Since Dr. Frazer is, undoubtedly, well aware of this reality, what is one to make of the recent developments?
In large measure, the recent engagement can be viewed as strategically sound at several levels. In the short term, it is increasingly apparent that the TFG's lease on life is perhaps even more tenuous than that of its "president," Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, who, until last week, had not been in Somalia for months and was evacuated to London from Nairobi last month for medical treatment.
[…]
Over the longer term, given the apparent futility trying to reconstitute a unitary state […] the members of the international community, especially the United States and its allies, have every reason to seek to engage Somaliland, not least of which is its geopolitical significance as a Muslim country with authentic democratic aspirations controlling over 900 kilometers of coastline along sea lanes along the Gulf of Aden, just opposite the Arabian Peninsula.
[…]
However, […] [this] does not mean that the United States will extend formal diplomatic recognition to Somaliland any time soon despite the consonance of the admirable efforts by its people to build a secure and democratic state for themselves to the vision which President George W. Bush outlined in his second inaugural address: "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world ... Our goal ... is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way." Rather, while the commonality of ideals provides a basis for moving forward, Realpolitik dictates that not just ideals, but concrete national interests must be carefully considered if a great power like the United States is going to break new ground and recognize an aspiring state like Somaliland. In other words, […] I cannot foresee recognition from Washington unless the government in Hargeisa convinces skeptics that there is substantial "value added" in the relationship.
To this end, the following are some steps which President Kahin and his government might take to build upon the recent progress in ties with the United States with a view to eventually securing formal recognition of what their citizens have accomplished in building a nation out of the wreckage of the former Somalia:

First, one cannot understate the importance of the presidential election scheduled for August 2008: it must be a model of free, fair, and transparent balloting. One of the most important claims that Somaliland makes on the attention of the international community is its democratic politics. While the 2005 elections for the House of Representatives marked a significant milestone in that the incumbent president's UDUB won only 33 seats in the 82-member legislature (KULMIYE and UCID won 28 and 21 seats, respectively), following this up with a successful second direct democratic presidential vote (the first took place in 2003), would truly confirm Somaliland's status in the company of emerging democracies. […]

Second, beyond the voting, Somaliland must continue making progress on democratic governance. The territory is characterized a "partly free," scoring 5 on political rights and 4 on civil liberties in Freedom House's annual report, Freedom in the World 2008 (the scale is 1 to 7, with 1 corresponding to the highest and 7 the lowest levels of freedom). While the scores are impressive in contrast to that of the countries in its neighborhood – Somalia scores an abysmal 7 on both indices, Ethiopia and Djibouti scores a 5 on both political freedom and civil rights, while Eritrea manages to score 7 and 6 respectively – there is still considerable room for improvement. The members of the upper chamber of parliament, the House of Elders (Guurti), for example, have repeatedly extended their own terms of office. Corruption, while not as insidious as elsewhere in Africa, nonetheless needs to be systematically combated; while President Kahin deserves credit for sacking a number of corrupt officials during his tenure, the fact that they were even in place at all and needed to be removed is still disconcerting. While Somaliland is a largely homogenous society, there are nonetheless a few very small minority communities whose concerns could also be better addressed in the overall political process.

Third, while President Kahin expressed the willingness of Somaliland to work with U.S. regional counterterrorism efforts during his meetings with Defense Department officials in Washington last month – and legal avenues for such cooperation need to be found on the American side – Hargeisa must redouble its efforts on the anti-extremism front. And while government agencies on the American side may have unresolved issues with certain types of engagements with their Somaliland counterparts, nothing prevents the latter from more increasing the quantity and quality of intelligence which they share. This would be particularly helpful since American military and intelligence officials have very limited access to reliable information from southern Somalia, an area where Somalilanders not only are better positioned to operate, but in fact already do so extensively. While I realize that this proposal shifts the burden somewhat to Somaliland, it is, after all, Somalilanders who are trying to make a case for partnership with the United States. (For their part, American officials would do well to shift responsibility for matters relating to Somaliland from the U.S. embassy in Kenya to the one in Ethiopia given that while there are no direct connections between Hargeisa and Nairobi, Somaliland officials and civilians routinely pass through Addis Ababa en route to other destinations.)

Fourth, it is no secret that the former Somalia has significant potential natural resources. […] [There] are reports of the Swedish-based Lundin Petroleum AB (owned, since 2001, by Canada's Talisman Energy) had approached Somaliland's Ministry of Water and Minerals for rights to oil and natural gas exploration [and] authorities in Hargeisa would do well to consider the long-term strategic implications of their decisions as well as the economic benefits. Even if their foreign policy elites were not generally divorced from the interests of their business classes, neither Sweden nor Canada would likely be much of a strategic ally for anyone, much less a nascent state in a dangerous neighborhood like the one Somaliland finds itself in. In contrast, as Walter Russell Mead and other scholars have pointed out, there is a long tradition of American business and government working in tandem, with the latter often following the former's lead and U.S. political interests adjusting themselves to advance the economic interests of its citizens. Not only should the government in Hargeisa be open to approaches by American firms, but it ought to actively court them, realizing that without significant commercial ties to the United States, any political relations – if they come about at all – will be very tenuous. Conversely, the presence of American business interests, especially in strategic sectors, reinforces the geopolitical case for diplomatic ties between Washington and Hargeisa.

Commenting on Somaliland, I.M. Lewis, the British scholar who for half a century has been the preeminent authority on the Somali peoples, observed: "The overall achievement so far as truly remarkable, and all the more so in that it has been accomplished by the people of Somaliland themselves with very little external help or intervention. The contrast with the fate of southern Somalia hardly needs to be underlined." For these two reasons, among others, it is hoped that Somaliland will take the steps necessary to take advantage of the momentum in favor of advancing ties with its natural strategic partner, the United States, to the next level.

Source UNPO

History as tool in Somaliland

2008-06-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

ISN Security Watch

The Somaliland region argues that its history as a separate entity and peaceful existence make it a prime candidate for independence.

The row over presidential and parliamentary elections in the as-yet unrecognized republic of Somaliland, in the northwest region of Somalia, was resolved Sunday after the three national parties held marathon talks in the presidential residence in Hargeysa, the capital.

But the dispute, which was triggered by the decision of the upper house of the parliament to extend President Dahir Riyale Kahin's term for a year, did not mar the independence anniversary celebrated by "Somalilanders" on 18 May.

Unlike southern Somalia, Somaliland has been stable since it unilaterally declared independence shortly after rebels overthrew then-ruler Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991, arguing that "the union did not work according to the aspirations of the people." Since then, the country has been seeking diplomatic recognition from the rest of the world.

Saeed Adaani, the Somaliland presidential spokesman, told ISN Security Watch that Somaliland's quest for recognition from the international community has both legal and moral bases "since the issue is not one part of a sovereign country seceding but the demand for separation from an unholy union."

"Many people are unaware that south Somalia, which was an Italian colony, and Somaliland, [which] was a British protectorate, voluntarily united in 1960 after being two separate countries for centuries."

According to Adaani, historically, the two "countries" have never been one, but it was the decision of the people of Somaliland to join with the south that was the catalyst for the union, which, he argues, has not worked in their interests.

"We have every right to reclaim our independence and revoke the unworkable unity between the two countries, [both of] which can have good neighborly relations between them just like with other countries," Adaani told ISN Security Watch.

The leaders of the pro-independence government - led by Riyale's ruling United Peoples' Democratic Party and strongly supported by the only other legally-mandated parties, the Kulmiye and the Justice and Welfare Party - has forcefully pushed its case for independence on the international stage, focusing particularly on the UK, the US, the EU and the African Union (AU).

Despite recent signs that the international community is interested in the stability of, and democratic political process in Somaliland, no country has come forward to extend the much sought after recognition. According to Omar Ali, a Somali commentator in Mogadishu, this is because, since the unification agreement was signed in Mogadishu, a separation agreement should also come from Mogadishu.

"Whoever they are, southern leaders, whether [they are] feudal warlords, the Islamists, or the current transitional government, have all unanimously opposed the secession of the northwestern regions," Ali told ISN Security Watch in Mogadishu. "And the leaders in Somaliland have been openly hostile toward the south, which they accuse of three decades of repression and persecution."

He says that Somaliland's case cannot be compared to that of Eritrea, which has received near-automatic recognition from the world following independence from Ethiopia. The latter's co-operation was instrumental in the separation of the two countries.

"Somaliland did not get or seek the cooperation of southern Somalia political leaders and distanced itself from what has been going on in the south by saying it will only speak with southern leaders after they recognize Somaliland. And southern leaders do not want northern regions to go. A real catch-22," says Ali.

According to Somaliland, the circular argument revolves in the other direction. "There is no way for us to speak with people who do not acknowledge our existence," Adaani said.

"To those who insist that we talk to south Somalia leaders about our independence, we say Somaliland is, has always been and will forever be an independent state whether we are recognized or not," he said.

Somaliland: The Horn's best kept secret

Whatever the status of Somaliland as a political entity, its supporters say the self-declared country has taken long strides toward reconstruction, stability and democratization while the rest of the country has suffered total chaos and lawlessness.

Somaliland has established its own government institutions, three political parties, a parliament and a police force. It also has a flag and currency of its own. The country has been stable since declaring independence nearly two decades ago while south Somalia has been the scene of recurrent violent confrontations between competing forces.

The entity's first elections in 2003 were commended by US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer during her visit to Somaliland earlier this year.

The visit has been seen as a signal of the US government's interest in development in Somaliland. The US and the EU have conditioned their acceptance of Somaliland independence on recognition by the AU. Frazer confirmed this view, stating during her visit that she believed "the issue of recognition should be left with the AU.

"We will work with the AU and will respect whatever decision it takes on Somaliland's status" Frazer told local reporters.

Delegations from the AU, the EU and various UN organizations have visited the entity, praising its stability, security and political progress.

For residents of the self-declared country, the prospects for recognition may seem remote, but they say the peace they have enjoyed is more important than confirmations of suzerainty from the international community.

"At least we are proud that our part of this violent sub-region is peaceful enough to live [in] and there will come a day when recognition for our state and what we have achieved will come," Mohamed Hajji, a resident of Hargeysa who calls himself a "Somalilander" rather than Somali told ISN Security Watch.

Source ISN Security Watch
Last Updated ( Jun 04, 2008 at 07:02 PM )

Somaliland parties reach agreement

2008-06-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hargeisa(QARAN)- The two leaders of the Somaliland opposition parties Mudane Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud of KULMIYE and Mudane Faisal Ali Warabe of UCID along with the Secretary-General of the ruling UDUB party, Mudane Mohamed Ismail Bulale have formally stated that the recent political issues in Somaliland between the government and the opposition parties have been resolved.

In recent press conferences at the various party headquarters in Hargeisa which were held after discussion between the government of Somaliland and the opposition parties at the Presidency this past Sunday, all three Somaliland parties have confirmed that there has been an agreement on the issues arising from recent political debates.

According to Mudane Faisal Ali Warabe, the chair of the UCID party "there has been an eight point agreement between all three parties relating to the recent political issues including but not limited to the voter registration process followed by agreed schedule for the local and Presidential elections at the beginning of next year.

Mudane Faisal Ali also stated that contrary to media reports that funds for the Somaliland elections have not been stopped, all three Somaliland political parties along with the National Elections Commission members are expected to meet with donor nations in Nairobi, Kenya at the end of the week.

The Chair of KULMIYE, Mudane Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud and UDUB's Secretary-General, Mudane Mohamed Ismail Bulale have also issued statements confirming that after the all party meeting on Sunday any political issues pertaining to the upcoming elections and ruling from the Somaliland House of Elders have been resolved.

There are expectations that main points of the multi-party agreement will be further clarified by the government of Somaliland and the opposition parties in the near future.

Source Qarannews

Recognition of Somaliland

2008-06-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Commentary

By T .D. Kenyon
(courtesy of SomalilandTimes.net)

After seventeen years of non-recognition by the international community, the people of Somaliland have a modus vivendi in spite of this huge disadvantage which they continue to suffer. Yet ordinary people worldwide recognize that Somaliland constitutes a very worthy addition to the United Nations as a peace loving and devout Islamic State, which excludes and deplores all fanatics and extremists.

One example of Somaliland's numerous handicaps is the Somali Djibouti owner of a medium sized business in the service industry at Hargeysa. He speaks French as his second language and has no English. He has installed a twenty year old Somalilander as manager, who speaks good English, to run the business. The owner lives in Djibouti, and manages a lucrative livestock export business through that port, which, incidentally, is livestock diverted from Somaliland, which should be exported at the port of Berbera if de jure Recognition were granted. He makes a considerable profit on the Hargeysa business because he pays the manager and staff very small wages; he avoids paying Somaliland tax on that business: the hard cash is removed to Djibouti without any customs control: he is so miserly as to dock the manager's wages when a client defaults on a bill, through no fault of the manager. As an absentee landlord and owner of the property and business in Hargeysa, he is a foreign parasite on Somaliland’s economy. Diplomatic relations between Somaliland and Djibouti are controlled by Djibouti, so Somaliland is powerless to rectify this corruption due to the absence of Recognition. (See Horn of Africa Bulletin 6/2004).
Somaliland - over the past seventeen years - has become inured to such malpractice to her detriment, rather than reunite with South Somalia (Mogadishu). Somaliland is thankful for the great mercy of separation from Mogadishu; therefore she is content to continue waiting until Recognition is achieved when justice will be normal.

The USA assistant secretary for African affairs is popular in Somaliland for her courteous visit to Hargeysa in February 2008 after the visit of Somaliland's President to Washington DC in January. On 11 March she spoke to the USA Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa. At the end of a long speech she stated:-

"….Somaliland has achieved a commendable level of stability, largely without external support or assistance, which the international community must help to sustain regardless of the question of formal recognition".

Formal recognition, to business people in the free world is a sine qua non for business. To the communist world - China - business in Somaliland is now flourishing without formal recognition. The appeal of Ms. Frazer "the international community must help….” will only come about after formal recognition, and not regardless of it.

This comment on Somaliland - albeit high sounding - is sadly worthless (except to China) until after Formal Recognition is approved. Somaliland needs Trade and thus less Aid.

The EU has resolved to withhold Recognition of Somaliland. EU have big and many issues near to home which concern the welfare of their citizens. Hence little time, shallow thought and poor understanding is given to the Recognition of Somaliland, which for them does not "exist". Maps show "Somalia" covering the country of Somaliland as well as South Somalia (Mogadishu) = "Rubbish geography".

Many EU countries contribute magnificently to Somaliland's welfare, but their voices are silenced when the trade of Italy with Mogadishu is at stake: Italy wishes that Somalia and Somaliland reunite for the sake of Italian business. To a lesser extent, but equally compelling in EU, the connection of Djibouti and France blocks Somaliland Recognition, also.

Britain - desperately wishing to appear amenable in EU and politica1ly anodyne in UN - throws Somaliland into the Somalia mess. (see letter 4040 of5 Oct 07 Horn of Africa desk FCO) "The UK has signed up to a common EU position..." states the British Foreign and Commonwealth office; so EU is closer than the loyal former Protectorate. (Witness Commonwealth War Graves, Hargeysa). The Commonwealth Conference, in 2007 at Kampala, was visited by the President and a delegation from Somaliland for the request for Recognition, which fell on deaf ears. - Most regrettably.

Egypt - strong voice in AU - has a firm policy that Somaliland and Somalia must reunite - not for the good of either country, but because this crazy policy keeps Ethiopia too busy in Mogadishu troubles to consider her (Ethiopia's) rightful harnessing of the Blue Nile head waters, which would improve Ethiopia's impoverished land. Hence Egyptian policy - impressed on the African Union- is to stop Somaliland Recognition. But - as the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia has stated - stability will come to Somalia when Somaliland is formally recognized. This is because Somalia will then suddenly realize that the chaos and mayhem in that region (in theory ruled by Mogadishu) can no longer be tolerated by the international community, who give credit to Somaliland for its peace and security, and who demand that Mogadishu learn the lesson of sensible government from Somaliland, whom Somalia has treated with contempt and disdain for 48 years, as inferior and insignificant. .

The Arab League -like the African Union -has little interest in Somaliland which does not exist on any map, and which does not grab headlines of war lords versus Union of Islamic Courts, like Mogadishu does. Again the voice of Egypt silences any talk in the Arab League, of Somaliland Recognition.

In the UN Security Council, Russia, China and France, all with veto power, have their own problems of applications for sovereignty and recognition, or for trade. The British Foreign Office states: -" The UK has signed up to many UN Security Council Presidential statements, which refer to the territorial integrity and unity of Somalia". (That is the defunct Somali Republic since 18 May 1991).

Unions, Federations and other groupings happened with de-colonization and post-world war modernization. Egypt and Syria joined in 1958; Somaliland and Somalia joined in 1960. In 1961 Egypt and Syria parted; in 1991 Somaliland and Somalia parted. In the West Indies, in South-East Asia, in Central Africa and other regions groupings were made, and some failed. UN accepted those failed groupings (e.g. Singapore, Jamaica, Malawi); so why is there a problem to separate Somalia and Somaliland? The answer is that Mogadishu (Somalia) refuses separation: this stance is backed blindly, selfishly, and corruptly by AU, AL, EU and UN.

So how did, for example, Timor-Leste (2002), Kosovo (2006) and Eire (1921) achieve separation form Jakarta, Belgrade and London? The lessons of those separations (and others) should help us to learn that stagnation and dithering are negative and fatal. Foresight, humility, individuality and courage are needed for a change of policy. The fighting to achieve independence in 1988 to 1991 for Somaliland is almost unknown, but it was, relatively, much more severe than the fighting leading to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, about which Mr. Kofi Annan said, "It will haunt our history for ever". The Balkans in Europe are less remote than the Horn of Africa. UN helped Kosovo: Somaliland has achieved and regained her 26 June 1960 independence and sovereignty ---alone.

Around the world, those who study the Somaliland request for Recognition (and are not corrupted or silenced by extremely dubious or evil policies of strong voices in UN, AU, EU, AL or other groups) know clearly and positively that world peace and stability will be splendidly advanced with Somaliland - a stable, democratic, free press, peaceful, Islamic state -- taking its rightful place in the international community of nations with World Formal Recognition. Failure to recognize Somaliland is a serious and unnecessary risk in this volatile and unstable area, which affects the whole of world peace.

Somaliland signs oil agreement with UK company

2008-06-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

Somaliland government signs agreement with UK Oil company

Written by Qarannews

Hargeisa (QARAN) -

The Somaliland Ministry of Water and Natural Resources has confirmed that the government of Somaliland has signed an oil exploration agreement with Asante Oil (UK) Limited.

According to the Director-General of the Ministry of Water and Natural Resources, Eng. Ahmed Ibrahim Suldan, Asante Oil (UK) Limited recently purchased the report from the seismic survey conducted in Somaliland by TGS of Norway, and has subsequently agreed to begin drilling towards the end of 2008.

Speaking to reports from the Republican at his office in Hargeisa, Eng. Ahmed Ibrahim also refuted recent rumours that Range Resources and African Oil which are currently conducting similar exploration in the Puntland region of Somalia may encroach into Somaliland territory.

Eng. Ahmed Ibrahim, Director-General of the Somaliland ministry of Water and Natural Resources described these rumours as baseless and stated that the government of Somaliland will protect the natural resources of the country, and described the current exploration in Puntland as merely an attempt by Range Resources and African Oil to sell shares in their companies in order to generate money.

Eng. Ahmed Ibrahim described the recent survey by TGS in Somaliland as extensive one which drawn lots of interest at the recent petroleum convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Source The Republican

New Graduates from Burco School of Health

2008-06-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Burco (QARAN)-

The first graduates from the Burco School of Health have completed their three year course. The thirty one students are the first batch of graduates from the school since 1986.
Speaking at the ceremony held at the Burco University campus Marwo Fadumo Osman, the school administrator, congratulated the graduates on completing their studies and encouraged them to use their knowledge and skill for the benefit of the people of Somaliland and the Horn of Africa.

The Togdher Region Health Co-ordinator, Mudane Aden Mohamed also spoke at the ceremony to mark the graduation of the first batch of students from the School of Health since 1986 and reminded the graduates of their responsibility in filling the need for qualified health workers in the Somaliland health sector.

Other dignitaries attending the ceremony included the Director-General of Burco's General Hospital, Dr. Abdijibar Mohamed Abdi, senior officers from the Somaliland Health ministry, the Chair of the Togdher Regional Health committee and members from several international aid agencies.

The thirty one graduates will complete their final exams within the next week at Burco University.

Kayse Ahmed Digale
Qarannews
Burco

Somaliland House of Representatives approves 2008 Budget

2008-05-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

May 30, 2008

Hargeisa(Qarannews)- The honourable members of the Somaliland House of Representatives have voted to approve the 2008 budget put before them by the Somaliland Ministry of Finance.

In today's session chaired by the Speaker of the House, Mudane Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi and attended by 57 members of the 82 seat house including the Speaker. 54 members voted to approve the budget whilst 2 members voted against the motion. The Speaker of the House did not cast a vote.

The 2008 Budget approved today by the Somaliland House of Representatives is the largest to date, estimated at 51 million dollars ($51,000,000) an increase of 27% from 2007.

In other business at today's session members of the House of Representatives also voted on two motions concerning the recent appointments of two new ministers, the Minister of Rural Development, Mudane Mohamed Hagar Dirir and the Minister of State for Education, Mudane Mohamed Garad Mohamed.

Both new appointments received approval from the members of the House.

The honourable members of the Somaliland House of Representative have as a result of this today's votes completed the sixth session of the House.

The 2008 budget has been welcomed by the all the government, regional and district workers along with the indepedent agencies and all of Somaliland instiutions of higher learning, who are expected to gain from the budget.

Source Qarannews

UAE Red Crescent donates to Hargeisa General Hospital

2008-05-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

UAE Red Crescent donates to Hargeisa General Hospital

Hargeysa, (Qarannews)- The United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society has made a donation of a new Ambulance, food and other goods to the Hargeisa General Hospital and the central orphange in Somaliland.

The donation consists of one tonne of rice, one tonne of dates and one tonne of cooking oil, along with a new emergency ambulance for Hargeisa General Hospital.

Receiving the goods from the UAE Red Crescent, the Director of Hargeisa General Hospital, Dr. Yasiin thanked the society for the donation and stated that he looked forward to working with the society.

The co-ordinator of the local orphange Mohamed Ismail also stated that the donation from the UAE will go long way to help meet the needs of the orphans at his centre.

Since President Rayaale's recent visit to the United Arab Emirates where he met with senior officers from the UAE Red Crescent society, donations to Somaliland have been steadly arriving from the United Arab Emirates. These donations are targeted at Somaliland hospitals, local orphanages and other social services.

Source Qarannews

Somaliland: Airport Development Shows International Engagement

2008-05-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

From UNPO

Somaliland: Airport Development Shows International Engagement

Wednesday, 28 May 2008

Funding from the British Government and expertise from the International Organization for Migration have come together in an important upgrade to Hargeysa airport.
Below is an article released by Qaran News and published by the Somaliland Times:

The United Kingdom Ambassador to Ethiopia, H.E. Norman Ling today [24 May 2008] formally opened two new additions at Egal International airport in Hargeysa. The two new areas consist of a new departure/arrival lounge and a new immigration area.

The two new additions are the first phase in a long term plan to update the immigration services at Somaliland's major international points of travel, the Egal International Airport in Hargeysa and the port of Berbera. The proposed second phase consist of plans to update similar areas at Borama and Buroa airports, as well as, the two major border centres at Togwajale and Lowyo-adde.

These new development projects have been funded by the government of the United Kingdom and are being implemented by the international travel agency, IOM [International Organization for Migration].

The ceremony at the Egal International Airport, the first phase in updating Somaliland's immigration facilities was attended by several members of the Somaliland government, The Commander of the Somaliland Police Force, the Mayor of Hargeysa, diplomats from the British embassy in Addis Ababa, senior officers from the Somaliland immigration service and members from IOM.

The head of the Somaliland Immigration Service, Mr Mohamed Nur Osman gave a brief background to the current developments at Egal International airport and port of Berbera. Mr Mohamed Nur highlighted Somaliland's efforts to update its immigration facilities to meet the needs of the people of Somaliland and visitors to the country.

Mr Mohamed Nur thanked the government of the United Kingdom for providing the necessary funds for these projects to go ahead, as well as, the expertise from IOM which allowed Somaliland immigration officers from across the country to increase their knowledge of modern facilities, including computers and international immigration procedures.

The Somaliland Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Ali Mohamed Waran-adde also spoke at the ceremony to open the two new additions at Egal International airport. Mr Ali Mohamed also thanked the United Kingdom government for providing the means for these projects to take place. Mr Ali Mohamed also spoke of the strong ties between the two nations.

Responding on behalf of his delegation, Ambassador Ling stated that it's the intention of his government to participate in development projects in Somaliland. Ambassador Ling declared that although this is his first visit to Somaliland since his appointment as Her Majesty's Ambassador to Ethiopia, the traditional links between Somaliland and the United Kingdom have always been acknowledged.

Ambassador Ling continued by stating that his government has been providing over $15 Million dollars in development assistance to Somaliland which will continue and may be increased in the near future.

Other speakers at the ceremony to open the new additions at Egal International airport in Hargeysa included Ms. Adrienne Testa from IOM, who gave a brief presentation of the new facilities and a dateline for the expected completion of the second phase of the development.

Ms.Testa also gave a report on the co-operation between the Somaliland Immigration Services and IOM which is heading into its second year.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Somaliland Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Abdillahi Ismail Ali gave a brief speech to highlight the development of Somaliland's immigration and border services. Mr Abdillahi Ismail stated that Somaliland has achieved many remarkably things in the 17 years since reclaiming its sovereignty and that it is time for the international community to recognise its achievements, and support its position as the most stable country in the region.

A New Date for Somaliland Elections

2008-05-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 24, 2008 (SL Times) – Somaliland’s political leaders agreed this week to a proposal submitted to them by the National Electoral Commission calling for holding the country’s next presidential and municipal elections on December 15, 2008 and March 15, 2009.

Senior government leaders and representatives of the opposition parties have been holding talks since May 14 with the aim of resolving the country’s political crisis which was triggered by the decision of the Guurti on April 10, 2008 to extend president Riyale’s term in office which was due to expire by May 15 for one more year.

The opposition rejected the Guurti’s unilateral decision as illegal and vowed not to recognize Riyale as president after May 15, 2008.

It is not yet clear whether the opposition will be sticking to this position or will be seeking to reach an agreement with Mr. Riyale over the formation of a government of national unity.
The leaders of the KULMIYE and UCID opposition parties and the UDUB ruling party agreed earlier in the week to introduce a motion in parliament requesting the scrubbing of a clause in the voter registration act that demands holding the two elections six months apart.

Opposition leaders have indicated that there were some matters still to be agreed upon such as a guarantee that the Guurti will not interfere with the new time-line for the elections.

Source: Somaliland Times

Somaliland: Dr.Jendayi Frazer's testimony to US Senate

2008-05-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

Jendayi Frazer: Africa: Evaluating U.S. Policy Objectives and Options on the Horn of Africa,Som/Land

Written by State.gov

Evaluating U.S. Policy Objectives and Options on the Horn of Africa
Jendayi E. Frazer, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa Washington, DC March 11, 2008

Released on April 28, 2008

Good Morning, and thank you Chairman Feingold and members of the Committee for calling a hearing on this timely and important issue. I am especially pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you shortly after the President's tremendously successful visit to Africa, and in the wake of the critical peace agreement in Kenya.

The President's trip saw an extraordinary outpouring of support for the United States and the American people. We are working closely with our African partners in a way that brings credit to our country. Our objectives in the countries the President visited -- Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia -- are similar to those currently dominating our agenda in the Horn: helping Africans resolve conflict and rebuild societies torn asunder by war; promoting ethnic tolerance and reconciliation; encouraging economic growth and job creation; improving health conditions; and ensuring democratic institutions and values prosper, including nations with significant Muslim populations, for Islam is clearly compatible with democracy.

The Horn of Africa today is the crucible in which many of our most important priorities for Africa are being addressed in their rawest forms. The issues are not conceptually different in the Horn than in the countries the President visited, but in some cases they present starker challenges in societies confronting ongoing conflict, where delivering state services and entrenching democratic values and institutions remain major challenges.

SOMALILAND

"In Somaliland, we are witnessing the patient, methodical emergence of representative institutions.

In early February, I also had an opportunity to visit the city of Hargeisa in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland. Somaliland has achieved a commendable level of stability, largely without external support or assistance, which the international community must help to sustain regardless of the question of formal recognition. My visit in February provided a chance to witness Somaliland's progress regarding economic development, but also to hear about the challenges that Somaliland faces in its democratic process.

During my visit, I met with members of the Somaliland administration, as well as representatives from Somaliland's three political parties to discuss the municipal and presidential elections expected to take place in July and August of this year. The United States has provided $1 million dollars through the International Republican Institute (IRI) to support training for members of Parliament elected in Somaliland's September 2005 parliamentary elections, as well as capacity-building programs for Somaliland's three political parties. We also plan to contribute an additional $1 million dollars in support of the upcoming municipal and presidential elections.

Despite some recent delays in beginning a voter registration process, we are hopeful that the recent decision by President Dahir Rayale Kahin to authorize the voter registration process proposed by the National Electoral Commission will enable the elections to take place on schedule. At the same time, Somaliland's democracy remains fragile and it is important to maintain the success of the past. We will continue to urge Somaliland's political parties to demonstrate the same level of political will that ensured the previous presidential elections in 2003 were credible and transparent, and to work together to ensure a peaceful result regardless of which candidate wins the election"

Released on April 28, 2008

Becoming Somaliland: A New Book By Mark Bradbury

2008-05-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Becoming Somaliland: A New Book by Mark Bradbury

Written by Qarannews

Becoming Somaliland is a new book by Mark Bradbury. This new book was subject of a discussion by a panel of experts recently held at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

Becoming Somaliland addresses the following topics:-

When does a country become a state?

On 18 May 1991 the leaders of the Somali National Movement and the elders of northern Somali clans proclaimed that they were setting up the new Republic of Somaliland. It is based on the territory of the former British protectorate which had merged with the Italian colony in 1960 to form the Republic of Somalia.

Why has Somaliland not followed Somalia into 'state collapse'?

Over the past fifteen years Somaliland has successfully managed a process of reconciliation, demobilisation and the restoration of law and order. The capital Hargeysa has become an international trading centre.

Why is Somaliland yet to be recognised by the international community?

The international community purports to promote 'good governance'. Somaliland has held one of the freest series of elections in the region and has one of the most democratic governments of any Muslim country. Yet this new republic still has no international legal status, while Somalia, which has had no effective government since 1990, is still accorded de jure sovereignty.

Should a unitary government be re-established for all of Somalia?

Since the collapse of the Somali state international diplomacy has supported fourteen peace conferences, each focusing on re-establishing Somalia as a whole. Somalia has recently seen new international military intervention by Ethiopia and the USA. Yet it is Somaliland which challenges the typical image of war, disaster and social regression associated with this part of Africa.

Mark Bradbury has worked extensively in North East Africa and elsewhere.

Contents: Introduction - The Somali people and culture - The rise and fall of the state of Somalia - The political foundations of Somaliland - A new Somaliland - State-building and the long transition - Rising from the ashes: economic rebuilding and development - Social developments - Democratic transitions - The practice of government -
Conclusions: rethinking the future -

References -

Index
This book is co-published by James Currey
ISBN 978-1-84701-310-1Price: £12.95

availabe online at www.progressio.org.uk

Somaliland Oil Minister attends Petroleum convention

2008-05-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

Somaliland Oil minister returns from Petroleum convention in the USA

Written by Qarannews

Hargeisa(QARAN)-

The Somaliland Minister of Water and Natural Resources, Mudane Qassim Sheikh Yusuf Ibrahim accompanied by a delegation from the ministry including the Director-General returned to Hargeisa after attending an international petroleum convention in the United States of America.

Speaking to the media upon his arrival at Egal International airport, Mudane Qassim Sheikh Yusuf gave a brief summary of the delegation's visit to the United States, the United Kingdom and Ethiopia.

The Minister stated that the visit enabled the Somaliland delegation to conduct a presentation to petroleum companies and investors at an international convention in San Antonio, Texas.

The Republic of Somaliland in partnership with TGS-Nopec of Norway recently completed an extensive inshore and offshore seismic surveys. The Somaliland government has announced its intent to conduct an open bid round later in the year after the data becomes available.

A press release on the visit is expected to be issued by the ministry in the coming days.

Source Qarannews

Somaliland President's address to Somaliland Parliament

2008-05-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

President Rayale’s address to both chambers of the Somaliland Parliament.

Written by Qarannews

Hargeisa (QARAN)- The President of the Republic of Somaliland Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin in an address to both chambers of the Somaliland parliament spoke on his government's political, economic and security achievements.

The President began by extending a personal greeting to the members of both chambers of the parliament, to all Somalilanders both at home and abroad. President Rayale also offered a prayer for the martyrs who lost their lives to attain freedom of the country.

Speaking about Somaliland's achievements, President Rayale stated "Our secret for the "unassisted" development of the country is our reliance on the peoples' will , consultations, perseverance and adhering to our decisions . This is our answer to the international community when we are asked of how we have developed so far".

The President , speaking about the internal criticism and accusations by certain groups within the country said "My administration has reached all corners of our territory , our democracy and achievements have brought to the limelight many enemies, it is essential that we unite and consult to overcome our enemies. We should keep in mind that our internal political difference not put the country on the alter of sacrifice, I hope that our democratisation success will be reflected in our economy as well"

President Rayale speaking about the political program of his government stated that it is based on the following:-

1. Safe transition from a community based government to a constitutionally democratic administration.

2. Quest for the international recognition of Somaliland

3. Strengthening of the security and stability of the nation by extending the central administration to the whole country.

4. The development of socio-economic of the country and decentralisation of the administration.

5. Improving the judiciary system and providing equality of justice to all.

The President in his speech addressed the opposition parties and said "I call on the opposition to be prepared to take part in a fair election without putting the people and the nation in jeopardy. I remind them that we must all obey the laws and the constitution of the country, and remind those who refuse to abide by the law that they will be disgraced and will not have any place in the community".

On the National Electoral Commission, President Rayale said the following " The members of the commission should have more knowledge of the law and appreciate the fact the NEC is an executive organ but not a legislative one and as such has to abide by the electoral laws".
Addressing the issue of Sool and Eastern Sanaag , President Rayale stated that special funds will be allocated in this year's budget in order to help the residents of these regions to improve the infrastructure, education and security.

"We have created new regions and districts in order to decentralise the administration . We have found out that this is imperative to fulfil the peoples' wishes and as a result the Somaliland administration has reached every corner of the country" stated President Rayale.

The President in his speech announced that he expects a new chapter in the cooperation between the Executive and the Legislative bodies of Somaliland.

On Economic development and the country's infrastructure , President Rayale stated that "The government will complete its 2007 development project which will contribute enormously to the economic development of the country, with the implementation of the five hundred million dollar programme ($550 million) due to commence in the middle of this year".

President Rayale reminded the people that the perceived political crisis in Somaliland has had an adverse effect on the nation's reputation with regard to the international community and appealed for mature deliberation discussions and consensus to resolve any issues.

During his address to both chambers of the Somaliland parliament, President Rayale highlighted some of the industrial and communications developments in Somaliland, including the new fiber optic cable which will pass through the country form the Wajaale on the border with Ethiopia to coast of Somaliland, and the recent seismic survey conducted in partnership with Somaliland by TGS-Nopec of Norway.

President Rayale stated "The successful completion of these projects will enable Somaliland to be more competitive in terms of business and economic arena in the region and greatly enhance the nations development prospects".

"We must manifest joint responsibility to work for the nations needs and unify the country, to achieve this , we have to avoid every conceivable obstacle be it in words or deeds that will have negative effect on the country" stated President Rayale.

The President called on the people to be vigilant against people who wish to create instability on May 15. President Rayale stated that "their aim and target is to destroy what we have been cultivating for the last 17 years".

President Rayale also mentioned the significant diplomatic steps Somaliland has recently taken by engaging neighbouring African nations, as well as, the United States, the European Union and the Arab world.

In conclusion , President Rayale called on the international community to respond to the people's call for their rights to be recognised as the country has fulfilled all prerogative requirements of statehood.

"I pray that God relieves us from the drought that hit the country , I pray for the development of the country and I promise that the government will further strengthen stability in the country , maintain good relations with its neighbours and continue its quest for international recognition" concluded President Dahir Rayale Kahin in his address to both chambers of the Somaliland parliament.

Qarannews

Somaliland opens liason office in Paris, France

2008-05-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Somaliland opens a liasion office in Paris, France

Written by LES NOUVELLES D'ADDIS

Versailles, France, April 8th 2008 -

Somaliland is asking for international recognition since 1991 when it restored its independence. Some countries have granted a de facto recognition to Somaliland, for instance Ethiopia which hosts a representative based in Addis Ababa. Delegates have also been sent to the United Kingdom, once the colonial power controlling the protectorate of Somaliland, and to the USA and Italy.

Recently France has twice sent diplomats from its embassy in Djibouti to Hargeisa to create cultural links with Somaliland. The latest move materializing a de facto recognition by France has been to authorize the opening of a representative liaison office in the French capital.
Les nouvelles d’Addis has met the newly appointed Somaliland representative, Mr Mahamud Salah Nur.

Les nouvelles d'Addis. – You arrived recently as a representative of your country in France. What have been your previous official assignments ?

Mahamud Salah Nur. – I had various positions since Somaliland was created again. A national charter was adopted in 1993 in Borama and government structures came into existence. I became then a member of parliament representing my Sanaag region up to 1997 when late president Egal was elected. Then I joined the government as minister of Foreign Affairs until 2001. When the political parties were created I became one of the founders of Kulmiye party which is the biggest opposition party. Lately I was chosen by president Riyale, taken into consideration my background, even though I belong to an opposition party and I did not leave my party. I was appointed as a representative in France. And the Somaliland government has decided to open an office taken into consideration the position of France as one of the great powers. It is a force to reckon with in Europe and we have decided to introduce the French language into the educational system. Now French is beeing taught in the universities of Somaliland, both in Borama and Hargeisa. I just have arrived to open this office.

LNA. – It cannot be an official diplomatic representation because there is no recognition yet. What can be your status ?

MSN. – Recognition has got two aspects. You have de facto recognition and de jure recognition. What we have now is de facto recognition. France takes into consideration the fact that Somaliland has existed for 17 years and single-handedly was able to survive, has shown unbelievable resilience to survive on its own. To day without boast Somaliland is a force to reckon with in the region. It has got the most democratic institutions, it has got the freest press, it has got a real functioning parliament and lot of things are controlled by the opposition. As you know we have separation of powers. The legislative, the judiciary and the executive. The parliament is controlled by the opposition which has got the majority. So it is something like cohabitation in a strange way on that part of the continent.

LNA. – You mentionned recognition de facto. Are you referring to the visits of French diplomats to Hargeisa last October and more recently ? Do you think this is a first step toward full recognition ?

MSN. – We think that there is a growing awareness worldwide that it is high time, it is overdue that the world has finally to grant Somaliland a legal, diplomatic recognition because the international community has realized that we have met all the conditions for a fully-fledged state, all the requirements as stipulated in the Montevideo Convention on recognition of states in the sense that we have fixed boundaries, permanent population with all the functional institutions of a state and we have legitimacy because we had several elections. We had presidential elections, we had parliamentary elections. By the way we are unique in East Africa in the sense that we have a president who is there by the virtue of the fact that we had national elections with a thin majority of 80 votes. That has happened nowhere in the world. And above all we are an oasis of peace and stability in the region. Thus number of people say this merits the respect of the international community.

LNA. – One strange thing is that while European countries like France and Great Britain have started to have relations, even if they are unofficial, inside the African Union they are waiting to do something. In your opinion will the African Union continue to wait and take no decision ?

MSN. – It is a very interesting question. In fact having officially made an application for membership in the African Union, a high level delegation was sent to Somaliland and finally a draft report was written, a very positive report about the situation which prevails in Somaliland. It strongly recommends that Somaliland should be recognized and admitted into the African Union, that our country cannot be equated to Biafra or to any split state but that Somaliland is unique in the sense that it meets all the conditions for a fully-fledged state. What Somaliland has done is fully in harmony with the charter of the African Union. This is now seriously debated by African countries and we think soon, inch’Allah, they will reach a positive decision.

LNA. – Beeing now in France do you plan to meet some personalities to inform them, in the ministry of Foreign Affairs for instance ?

MSN. – The Foreign Ministry has already agreed in February that Somaliland should be given the right to open an office to represent our country. Not fully diplomatic but a sort of ex officio.

LNA. – Like the Palestinian representation ?

MSN. – Something along that line. You call it officieux. The decision of recognition will be taken by France and by the European countries. France cannot take this decision alone but it will have to consult other European governments. France will be chairman of the European Union by the first of July.We think by then the Europeans will seriously debate the issue of the recognition of Somaliland and that depends on how much efforts we put in to convince and sell our gopel to Europeans.

LNA. – You have a lot of work ahead. Welcome to this country. We shall certainly meet again.

MSN. – Thank you. Source:

LES NOUVELLES D'ADDIS
Posted by: David Barouski

Somaliland University Receives Donations

2008-05-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

GAA donates sports equipment to Burco University

Written by Qarannews

Burco(QARAN)-German Agro Action (GAA) recently donated sporting equipments to the faculty and students of Burco University at a ceremony held on campus.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mubarak M.Omar from the GAA office in Burco stated these equipments are intended for the benefit of the students at the university during inter-mural sports competitions. Mubarak Omar also stated the GAA has been involved in several communities programmes in Togdher and Oodweyne regions, and are delighted to be able to make this contribution to the students at Burco University.

Farhan Aden, also from the GAA office in Burco stated that sports plays vital role in the well-being of students and are important part of university life.

Speaking on behalf of the university, Hinda Mohamed Jama thanked GAA for their donation which will be used to promote sporting activities at the university. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Ahmed Mohamed Aden, chair of the student council at Burco Univeristy, also thanked GAA for their contribution which he described as the timely, but requested further donations for the female members of the student body.

Kayse Ahmed Digaale
Qarannews
Burco

Somaliland's marine resources in new documentary

2008-05-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

Somaliland's marine resources featured in a new documentary

Written by Qarannews

Berbera (QARAN)-A new documentary on Somaliland's marine resources was presented in a ceremony held at the Somaliland Marine Institute in Berbera.

The documentary produced by SAREDO in association with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) highlights the marine life in Somaliland's Red Sea coast and the abundance of these stocks, as well as, the need to use these resources towards the development of Somaliland's economy in an environmentally responsible way.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Mayor of Berbera, Mudane Abdalle Mohamed Arab stated that Somaliland is blessed with an abundant marine stock which needs to be utilised in an environmentally sound manner and must be protected from unauthorised fishing. Mudane Abdalle Mohamed declared that the people of Somaliland must safeguard their resources for the benefit of future generations.

The forty-five minute documentary was filmed off the coast of Sahil region and includes new footage taken at a deep sea levels featuring a variety of exotic fish, reefs and corals. The Red Sea coast is very popular with deep sea diving enthusiasts across the globe, and the Somaliland coast contains some of the most spectacular corals and reefs in the region. A point further elaborated by the SAREDO documentary which could led to tourism's opportunities.

This documentary marks the first time that the marine life off the coast of Somaliland has been put on film.

The participants at the screening of the documentary included members of the Sahil and Berbera administration, students from the Somaliland Marine Institute and members of the
general public.

Source Qarannews

Somaliland government and opposition parties meet.

2008-05-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

Meeting between the government and opposition leaders in Hargeisa

Written by Qarannews

Hargeisa (QARAN) -The President of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin, and the two leaders of Somaliland's opposition parties KULMIYE and UCID, Mudane Ahmed Mohamed Mahamud and Mudane Faisal Ali Warabe this evening met at the Presidency in Hargeisa.

The meeting took place in order to begin discussions on issues relating to Somaliland's political arena, including efforts to revive the failed mediation talks between all three Somaliland parties regarding the delay in the Presidential and local elections, the extension of the President's mandate by the Somaliland House of Elders and other areas of mutual interest.

Mediation processes led by the Somaliland speaker of parliament, Mudane Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi had failed and as a result the need for a new attempt in resolving the issues facing the Somaliland political parties appears to have been revived by the meeting between the three party heads in Hargeisa.

According to reliable resources these discussions are expected to continue tomorrow with a luncheon to be attended by the three party leaders, followed by a press conference tomorrow, Thursday, the 15th of May.

According to these same sources, the chair of the UCID party, Mudane Faisal Ali Warabe stated that these talks have borne fruit "Which will reassure the people of Somaliland and our friends across the globe that Somaliland has once again resolved its internal issues through dialogue and consensus".

These talks come at a time when the opposition parties, KULMIYE and UCID had been adamant in their opposition to the extension of the President's term for an additional year by the Somaliland House of Elders. The President's five year term expires on the 15th of May, 2008.

Source Qarannews.

Somaliland: Foreign Minister Receives French Diplomats

2008-05-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Somaliland Foreign Minister receives French diplomats.

Written by Qarannews

Hargeisa(QARAN)-The Somaliland Foreign Affairs Minister, Mudane Abdillahi Mohamed Duale recently met with a delegation from the French embassy in Djibouti led by Monsieur Thiery Chornier, premier secretary at the embassy.

Monsieur Chornier and his delegation are on a short visit to Somaliland in order to strengthen the relationship between the two nations in terms of economic, planning, education and tourism assistance.

During their visit to Somaliland, the French delegation also met with the Somaliland Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mudane Abdirisak Waberi Roble, who hosted a luncheon for the diplomats in Hargeisa.

Mudane Abdirisak Waberi and the French delegation discussed areas of mutual interest including proposed cultural assistance such as the Laas Geel ancient cave paintings and the proposed reconstruction of the national theatre which was destroyed during the bombing of Hargeisa by mercenary pilots hired by the defunct Barre regime in 1988.

Monsieur Chornier and his delegation also met with the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, Mudane Saeed Mohamed Nur, the Director-General, Awil Mohamed Farah and the Somaliland representative to France, Mudane Mohamed Salah Nur.

Source Qarannews.

Somaliland: UAE Red Crescent Society Donations

2008-05-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

UAE Red Crescent Society donations arrive in Somaliland

Written by Qarannews

Hargeisa(QARAN)-A humanitarian donation of equipment including vehicles, machinery and food from the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent society recently arrived at the port of Berbera.

The donations comes after the President of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin's visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this year. During his visit to the UAE, President Rayale met with senior officers from the Red Crescent society along with members of the Somaliland community in the United Arab Emirates.

The equipment includes water drilling rigs which are designed to drill wells to alleviate the water shortage caused by the recent drought in the country. Speaking at the recent celebration to commemorate the 17th anniversary of Somaliland's reclamation of sovereignty, President Rayale stated that the rigs will be used to drill wells across Somaliland, including a major complex south of Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital.

According to reliable sources, these humanitarian donations will be distributed among the areas severely affected by the recent drought which has only abated due to the arrival of the much anticipated rainy season across Somaliland.

Source Qarannews

Somaliland: Las Anod Water Project Completed

2008-05-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Las Anod water project completed

Written by Qarannews

Las Anod(QARAN)-The Somaliland Ministry of Water and Natural Resources and the Sool Regional administration along with water development agencies have completed the installation of a water filteration complex in Las Anod.

The complex of several water wells have been installed with purification and filtration systems to cleanse and make the water of city drinkable for its residents. This is the first such project to take place in Las Anod and comes after the resumption of Somaliland authority in the region.

The new water purification complex consist of five wells spread across the city which are designed to provide hygenic household water for the residents of Las Anod. Previously, the residents of Las Anod relied upon infrequent water supplies from nearby villages.

These new water development plants have been welcomed by the residents of Las Anod and comes after a pledge made to the region by the President of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin upon the resumption of Somaliland authority in the region last year.

The Governor of Sool, Mudane Ali Sandulle stated that this the fourth project carried out in the region since the resumption of Somaliland authority last year. The other projects include the reconstruction of the regional administration facilities, communications developments including roads and telecommunications, drought relief and the refurbishment of the local hospitals and clinics.

Mudane Ali Sandulle called on the residents of the region to work with the Somaliland government to improve the lives of the residents of the city after years of neglect under the Puntland local administration.

Source Qarannews
Las Anod.

Somaliland President receives British Ambassador

2008-05-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

President Rayale receives British ambassador

Written by Qarannews

Hargeisa (QARAN)-The President of Somaliland, Mudane Dahir Rayale Kahin received this evening a delegation from the British embassy in Addis Ababa led by Ambassador Norman Ling and other senior diplomats who are on a short visit to Somaliland.

In a communiqué issued by the President's press office, Mudane Rayale and Ambassador Ling met this evening to discuss the strengthening of the ties between the two countries in terms of economic, security and democratic developments.

Ambassador Ling thanked the people and the government of Somaliland for the warm welcome afforded to his delegation and praised the ability of Somaliland to maintain peace and stability in the country whilst at the same time promoting good governance and democratic institutions.

President Rayale responded to the Ambassador's comments by stating that Somaliland aims to continue on its path to democracy and assured the diplomats that Somaliland will hold free and fair elections similar to the previous ones. President Rayale thanked the United Kingdom for its continued support of the people of Somaliland and paid tribute to the historical ties between the two countries.

Also attending the dinner for the British diplomats were the Somaliland Minister of Finance, Mudane Hussein Ali Duale, the Minister of Home Affairs, Mudane Abdillahi Ismail Ali, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, Saeed Mohamud Nur and the Somaliland representative to the United Kingdom, Mudane Aden Musa Jibril.

Source Qarannews

British Ambassador Opens New Additions to Somaliland International Airport

2008-05-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

British Ambassador formally opens new additions at Egal International Airport

Written by Qarannews
May 24, 2008 at 03:06 AM

Hargeisa (QARAN) -
The United Kingdom Ambassador to Ethiopia, H.E. Norman Ling today formally opened two new additions at Egal International airport in Hargeisa. The two new areas consist of a new departure/arrival lounge and a new immigration area.

The two new additions are the first phase in a long term plan to update the immigration services at Somaliland's major international points of travel, the Egal International Airport in Hargeisa and the port of Berbera. The proposed second phase consist of plans to update similar areas at Borama and Burco airports, as well as, the two major border centres at Togwajale and Lowyo-adde.

These new development projects have been funded by the government of the United Kingdom and are being implemented by the international travel agency, IOM.
The ceremony at the Egal International Airport, the first phase in updating Somaliland's immigration facilities was attended by several members of the Somaliland government, The Commander of the Somaliland Police Force, the Mayor of Hargeisa,diplomats from the British embassy in Addis Ababa, senior officers from the Somaliland immigration service and members from IOM.

The head of the Somaliland Immigration Service, Mudane Mohamed Nur Osman gave a brief background to the current developments at Egal International airport and port of Berbera. Mudane Mohamed Nur highlighted Somaliland's efforts to update its immigration facilities to meet the needs of the people of Somaliland and visitors to the country.

Mudane Mohamed Nur thanked the government of the United Kingdom for providing the necessary funds for these projects to go ahead, as well as, the expertise from IOM which allowed Somaliland immigration officers from across the country to increase their knowledge of modern facilities, including computers and international immigration procedures.

The Somaliland Minister of Civil Aviation, Mudane Ali Mohamed Waran-adde also spoke at the ceremony to open the two new additions at Egal International airport. Mudane Ali Mohamed also thanked the United Kingdom government for providing the means for these projects to take place. Mudane Ali Mohamed also spoke of the strong ties between the two nations.

Responding on behalf of his delegation, Ambassador Ling stated that it's the intention of his government to participate in development projects in Somaliland. Ambassador Ling declared that although this is his first visit to Somaliland since his appointment as Her Majesty's Ambassador to Ethiopia, the traditional links between Somaliland and the United Kingdom have always been acknowledged.

Ambassador Ling continued by stating that his government has been providing over $15 Million dollars(annually) in development assistance to Somaliland which will continue and may be increased in the near future.

Other speakers at the ceremony to open the new additions at Egal International airport in Hargeisa included Ms. Adrienne Testa from IOM, who gave a brief presentation of the new facilities and a dateline for the expected completion of the second phase of the development.
Ms.Testa also gave a report on the co-operation between the Somaliland Immigration Services and IOM which is heading into its second year.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Somaliland Minister of Home Affairs, Mudane Abdillahi Ismail Ali gave a brief speech to highlight the development of Somaliland's immigration and border services. Mudane Abdillahi Ismail stated that Somaliland has achieved many remarkably things in the 17 years since reclaiming its sovereignty and that it is time for the international community to recognise its achievements, and support its position as the most stable country in the region.

Source Qarannews

Last Updated ( May 24, 2008 at 06:42 PM )

Somaliland Must Be Recognised

2008-05-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Somaliland must be recognised

Written by Hassan YusufAhmed, Hargeisa
May 24, 2008 at 03:37 PM

May 18 is a day of great significance to the people of Somaliland. This year, the day was commemorated en masse throughout the country. Why is this day so important?
On May 18, 1991, Somaliland officially and democratically revoked its union with Somalia when strongman Siad Barre was overthrown. The two countries were formerly colonised by two distinct European powers.

Somaliland, a British protectorate, became independent in 1960 and five days later, Somalia, an Italian colony, followed suit. The two countries immediately unified for the unholy purpose of bringing all predominantly Somali-peopled regions, including Djibouti, Ogaden province of Ethiopia and northern Kenya, under one geographical administration — Somalia.

It is now clear that the crazy idea of creating a greater Somalia by force has failed. During this year’s celebrations the President of Somaliland, in his wisdom, once again appealed to the UN and the international community to officially recognise his democratic and politically stable country and to treat it just as Somalia’s neighbour. I share his sentiments; Somalia is now a disaster and its chaos ought not to be extended to peaceful, civilised and democratic Somaliland.

Source Nation media.

Somaliland: A Beacon of Success in Africa

2008-05-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Somaliland recently celebrated its 17th anniversary the reclamation of sovereignty in 1991. Somalilanders both at home and abroad celebrated this anniversary with their customary pageantry and verve.

The people of Somaliland had another reason to celebrate, by once again displaying a level of political maturity sadly lacking in many parts of Africa, and in particular in the Horn, in resolving some perceived "political deadlock",(Somalilanders saw these issues as political debates, whilst enemies hoped it would lead to political instability)through dialogue, discussion and consensus.

The people of Somaliland are fortunate to have a political leadership that believes in a healthy debate followed swiftly by consensus, and vice versa, the political leadership in Somaliland are fortunate to lead citizens who believe that through dialogue, discussion and consensus a nation's ailments can be resolved.

As the recent agreement between all the political parties in Somaliland clearly highlights the people of Somaliland believe that thorough shared aims and history national stability and democracy will be strengthened. Not for them countless mediations, foreign invasions, internal genocide or unkempt promises. Somalilanders have long ago recognised the need to resolve any internal issues through, dialogue, discussion and consensus.

The international community is engaging Somaliland fully aware that it is the key to peace and democracy in the region. The recent agreement between the Somaliland political parties have only furthered strengthened the international community's faith in Somaliland.

It has been extensively discussed that Somaliland, a former British protectorate became independent on June 26th, 1960 before a hasty, un-ratified and un-constitutional union with Somalia on 1st July 1960, all with aim of creating a "Greater Somalia" entity, in hindsight, a devastating illusion.

It has also been recorded by a recent AU Commission to Somaliland in 2005 that "Somaliland presents a unique case for recognition and deserves to have the issue address by the African Union", it is fact that in spite of lack of recognition, Somaliland meets all the criteria for statehood and enjoys many ties with nations across the globe, so the terms "breakaway" or "separatists" that are found in anti-Somaliland articles are merely just words.

Somaliland has always been separate through its believe in democracy, inclusion, collectivism and justice, However, Somaliland does want to breakaway from dictatorship, clannism, genocide and destruction.

The people of Somaliland had many reason to celebrate on the 18th of May, but the main reason for their unbridled celebration was the fact that Somaliland had been delivered from the nightmare of a union with Somalia seventeen years ago, and Somalilanders would like to let the world know that Somaliland's sovereignty is sacrosanct.

Somaliland: A Nation on the move.

2008-05-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Somaliland has nothing to fear from the pen. A nation based on democracy welcomes free speech and thought. However, the ramblings of a person who has never been there, without a relationship to Somaliland cannot damage its reputation as "Africa's best kept secret" with lies and fabrication. I strongly believe that if one is to make a sound criticism of an ideal or a position, it is imperative to remain objective. A mark of a good journalism is objectivity not fabrication.

Somalilanders appreciate and defend the right of each to their opinion, however incorrect and misguided they seem. But, there are those whose writings and comments are riddled with lies and fabrications. Somaliland is not perfect, no nation on earth is perfect, but I don't think anyone believes that we have a "Red Sea Hitler" as its leader, not only is it incorrect, but it is an insult to all those who fought against and suffered at the hands of the real Hitler. Personally, I have no idea how anyone in their right mind can compare anyone to Hitler.

Somaliland: A brief background

Somaliland is a nation which had spent 31 years in futile union with Somalia. Its infrastructure, talent and assets stripped and finally its land mined, towns bombed to smithereens and its people murdered by the Barre regime, whose remnants appear to now control Somalia. Yet, some people would like to overlook all the success Somaliland and its people have achieved. The rebuilding of the country which has given work to skilled Somalilanders. The thriving economic and education sectors. The nascent progress of a society built again from the rubbles. The organisation of our armed forces and finally, the potential of Somaliland and its future generations. All these things and more are overlooked by those who continue to remain ignorant of Somaliland.

Somaliland is a bastion of peace in which all differences are resolved with consultations, give-and-take negotiations, and respect for the other side, good neighbourly relations, and peaceful co-existence. Somaliland has held a referendum on a national constitution based on democratic institutions like political parties, a parliament, municipal councils, a national election commission that enables qualified citizens to run for the highest position in a democratic fashion. Currently, it is preparing for the second phase of the elections. The international community is ready to help Somaliland to conduct a smooth and successful election.

Friend and foe alike are puzzled by the secrets of our successes. They ask themselves the reasons behind the ability of this poor country to escape from the conflicts afflicting the other parts of Somalia, and at its ability to manage achieving all these good deeds with such meagre resources. The answer is the ability of Somalilanders to achieve all this through dialogue, discussion and consensus. The ability of this poor country to escape from other conflicts in the region is due to its citizens, their faith and lessons learnt from years of neglect and prosecution.

Somaliland and Somalia are two separate nations, divided by ideology and political tradition. Granted we all speak Somali and are Muslim, but politically and ideological Somaliland and Somalia have always been going different ways, democracy vs. dictatorship, inclusion vs. exclusion, collectivism vs. clannism.

Somaliland has never attempted to foster hate or resentment, its national premise is one of inclusion to safeguard the stability and peace required by the democratic process taking shape in the country. The people of Somaliland are committed to the peace and progress of the nation.

There are those who like to see the nation fail, but that will not happen. It is obvious that if the cause is just, and Somaliland's cause is just, then nothing can stand on its way. The late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King stated "that he had seen the promised land", and although he was addressing the civil rights struggle in the United States of America, I believe that his words apply to Somaliland.

Ahmed KheyreLondon, UK