Interview with Somaliland’s Foreign Minister: Lack of resources is eroding our influence on regional stability.

WASHINGTON (Somalilandpress) — Somalia is suffering on many fronts. The transitional government is engaged in an ongoing conflict with radical Islamists who risk turning the country into a haven for Al-Qa’ida inspired groups. The Horn of Africa nation is afflicted by a dire food shortage, inflation and a spate of piracy.

But as Somalia continues to wallow in violence, some eye a solution in Somaliland, a relatively quiet and stable autonomous region in the north of the country which, while it has not been recognized internationally as a country, is considered a de facto state.

The Media Line spoke with Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Abdullahi Duale during his trip to Washington, where he was meeting with U.S. administration officials.

“We are basically a very stable and peaceful country,” Duale told The Media Line. “We have secured our sea coasts and we’re free of piracy. Somaliland has fought terrorism over the years and we have institutions that work. We’re at peace with ourselves and we have great relations with our neighbors, such as Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen.”

Somaliland has been clamping down on a spate of piracy that is plaguing the region by seizing pirates and putting them on trial.

“In piracy, we’re helping extremely well,” Duale said. “We have an 850-kilometer coastline and up until now we’ve been very lucky. We have a very vigilant and small group of coastguards. Although their capacity is very limited – we don’t have the infrastructure for combating it – we’ve been lucky and our people are supporting us.”

But beyond that, Duale implied that in the current political and economic climate, Somaliland’s powers are limited in curbing the violence in the region.

“There have been successive attempts by the international community – by the U.S., the Arab League and the African Union – but thus far it hasn’t been a viable success, simply because they’re not serious,” he said. “This is a serious thorn in the side for the entire region and throughout the world. A stable Somalia will contribute a great deal to us and to the region.”

Al-Shabab is the dominant radical Islamist group, which controls large tracts of southern Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu.

Duale argued that the lack of strong relations between Somalia and Somaliland also reduces the administration’s power of influence.

“We do not have relations or a dialogue with them,” he said. “We have no security arrangements with them. We’re trying to make sure our borders are intact and that our security is not compromised. There are no viable institutions that one can deal with [in Somalia] and we have never participated in their conferences, so it’s a serious problem. There’s fragmentation and problems and we don’t want to get drawn into this.”

“We have been advised by friendly countries to stay out of that, but we wish them luck and hope that what comes out of this process is a serious government that takes control of the nation and provides security and governance to the people of Somalia who have suffered for so long.”

Mohamed Amiin Adow, the chief correspondent of the Shabelle news agency, had a different take on the matter.

“If Somaliland relinquishes its stance of breaking away from the rest of Somalia, then the seat of the Somali government can be relocated from Mogadishu to Hargeisa and law and order can spread from the more stable parts of the north to the chaotic parts of the south,” he told The Media Line. “Somaliland has been enjoying peace and stability since it declared independence from the rest of Somalia.”

“No one is safe in Somalia when it comes to security, whereas Somaliland is a little bit different due to the functioning self-administration,” Adow said. “It’s more stable as opposed to Somalia, but doesn’t have the established security which can fully guarantee the safety and security of its people.”

“Many people believe the security situation in Somaliland is very fragile and can vanish at anytime unexpectedly, because Somaliland has no border security system and illegal weapons are brought in regularly,” he added. “Also, there are more and more Al-Shabab sympathizers in Somaliland, so violent activities can happen, like the one in 2009, when a suicide bombing killed a lot of people in Hargeisa.”

The foreign minister said he is engaged in efforts to secure recognition from countries around the world to make Somaliland an official independent state.

“We established a nation state using a bottom-up approach,” he said. “It’s been characterized as one of the most successful, if not the successful nation-making processes that has taken place in Africa and elsewhere. It’s a pity that thus far we haven’t had the attention of the international community.”
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“We are a poor nation with close to four million people, a budget of less than $40 million, 50,000 security forces including the military and coast guard and close to 7,000 civil servants,” Duale continued. “We’re operating a whole nation the size of England and Wales with 40 million dollars.”

“We’re appealing to America and the international community and to countries that promote democracy to assist Somaliland in building its infrastructure and capacity,” he said. “We have been threatened by terror for quite some time and been victims of terrorism numerous times, and we overcame this.”

“We’re in a neighborhood that’s extremely volatile and extremely difficult and we have contributed greatly not only in the regional geopolitical case of security but also in good governance and in the democratization process.”

Andrews Atta-Asamoah, a Kenya-based researcher at the Institute for Security Studies said Somaliland could play two primary roles in bringing more stability to the region.

“One, it can present an example and sharp demonstration of what peace and stability can achieve, so that warlords, saboteurs and spoilers of peace in the central and southern parts of Somalia will begin to consider the effects of their actions,” he told The Media Line.

“Secondly, it can make use of soft power, particularly diplomatic lobbying and engagement with other states to draw a sharper attention to the Somali crisis. Unfortunately, however, soft power has been denied to Somaliland since it is yet to gain recognition by any state in Africa and beyond.”

For this reason, Atta-Asamoah explained, the best way for Somaliland to be an effective player is to grant it official international recognition.

“Without recognition, it will be very difficult for Somaliland to play any leading role in the resolution of the crisis,” he said, “since they can’t effectively influence other independent states or directly mingle in the complex situation of clannism on the ground since they risk being dragged into the mess around the issue of clan politics. Particularly, any uncalculated intervention could be misconstrued as an Issaq clan agenda to dominate the other clans.”

Britain withdrew from British Somaliland in 1960 to allow its protectorate to join with Italian Somaliland and form the new nation of Somalia. A 1969 coup ushered in an authoritarian socialist rule for two decades. The regime collapsed in 1991 and Somalia descended into turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy.

In May 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland. It is considered a de facto independent state but no sovereign states have recognized its independence, even though many governments maintain informal ties with Somaliland and there are delegations and embassies in its capital, Hargeisa.

As for Somalia, the country has not had a stable government since 1991.

A Western-backed Transitional Federal Government was set up in 2004 but Mogadishu remained under the control of a coalition of sharia courts known as the Islamic Courts Union.

Originally the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, Al-Shabab began an insurgency in late 2006 with assassinations and suicide bombings targeting aid workers and transitional government officials. The group has since made significant gains and now controls much of southern Somalia.

The Western-backed Ethiopian military invaded Somalia in 2007, but many analysts believe this augmented Al-Shabab’s military campaign against the transitional government.

The Ethiopians withdrew in January of last year after over 16 months of Al-Shabab attacks on its forces.

The Islamists soon regrouped, began seizing strategic areas and launching daily attacks on security forces, civilians, aid workers and peacekeepers. The dominant Islamist group today, known as Al-Shabab, wishes to topple the current Western-backed government and impose Islamic law.

The transitional government is preparing a major military offensive to retake the capital Mogadishu from Al-Shabab and various other militant groups in the coming weeks.

Written by Rachelle Kliger

Source: The Media Line, Published Sunday, March 28, 2010

Photo: Cars clog a main road in Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland. As Somalia continues to wallow in violence, some eye a solution in Somaliland, a relatively quiet and stable autonomous region in the north of the country which, while it has not been recognised internationally as a country, is considered a de-facto state.

1 COMMENT

  1. the kenyans and the ethiopians cant wait for somalia to be divided in to 4 mini nations so that they will dominate us 100%, while they are strongly united against us and favour one clan over the other rotationally, the people of hargaisa can end all the wars in the south and central if they want to in one month, just like what Mohamed Amiin Adow said “If Somaliland relinquishes its stance of breaking away from the rest of Somalia, then the seat of the Somali government can be relocated from Mogadishu to Hargeisa and law and order can spread from the more stable parts of the north to the chaotic parts of the south,” and that is so true if the capiton is changed from xamar to hargaisa and the politicians and lawmakers can do thier job from far way from the al shabab, that would be the start of the end for al shabab and all other trouble makers, but this ethiopian-kenyan and clanist led separatism has to end, and this time lets try to rule the nation from hargaisa, inshaallah this will happen becouse we are one people and allot of nations want to make us weak for thier own evil deeds, salam from djibouti

  2. Does Hargeisa want to host warlords and thugs? No thank you we did before and we got nothing in return. When your wheelbarrow stops, we are not someone you could use to restart it for you.

    Your issues are your issues. We are not concerned about Kenya, Somalia or Ethiopia – our strong identity and inner warrior is enough to handle them all.

    We prefer peace but if war is necessary like we defeated Somalia we ready to defeat any other regime that traspasses.

    You just want to us Ethiopia and Kenya as tool for your evil hidden games and keep hidding behind unionism.

    Everything about you is not honest and thats why you dont have peace.

    Hargeisa doesnt have magic hands to fix your problems, your problems are reflection of who you are – dishonest people.

    Hargeisa will remain the capital of Somaliland for a while before we move the capital to Sheekh.

    • kayse you and are not on the same level, you are stuck on triblism(jahiliya times)
      and also the north has its criminals like the shabab top leadership and mr kaahin so please stop with the name callings, do you denny that hargaisa and bossaso report to addis abbeba? when you make ludacris statments like " we defeated Somalia" makes me wonder if you are even a somali? and if you are a somali the only thing that got defeated is all somallis incuding you, then another ludicris statement " we did before and we got nothing in return" so what siad barre regim did is on all southerners huh thats your claim? siad barre was saddam hussien an killer and murderer the people of south-central.north had nothing to do this that dog, " When your wheelbarrow stops, we are not someone you could use to restart it for you" so your not somali you dont care about what happens to inocent somali people? may allh save you from clanism which you so addicted to, slam to you

      • Libaan: for you to call us for a Unity it's disgusting, I mean 20 Years ago we started a journey that we know it would be hard, improbable and Long, that we will face many who will disagree with it regionally or internationally but above all that we challenged ourselves and the cynics who Said Somaliland is too divided, too disillusioned to come around a common purpose but guess what! we have anothering to say those who were skeptical about our Decision.

        Tcontinued

      • Libaan: for you to call us for a Unity it's disgusting, I mean 20 Years ago we started a journey that we know it would be hard, improbable and Long, that we will face many who will disagree with it regionally or internationally but above all that we challenged ourselves and the cynics who Said Somaliland is too divided, too disillusioned to come around a common purpose but guess what! we have anothering to say those who were skeptical about our Decision

      • Get out off here with your whining dude and stay on your side of the border. Funny how long it took you to release that the "North" is Somali yesterday when you guys were trying to exterminate them where was Somali?

        Now your on the bottom your Somali and because I dont want to associate with you im "tribalist". I have different views to you, different systems. ideas and believes – this is more than the ethnicity we share the little language we have things in common with.

        Go your way I'm going after my dream. If you cant fix your own home and wanna cry after me I will tell you that your wasting your time.

        Somaliland is Somaliland, Somalia is Somalia – why cry after us like the child support agency?

        • in am not cryieng after anyone if you dont like somalis and somalia go to ethiopia iam sure they would love you there, but leave my land i am from djibouti but i still feel for other somalis iam not from southern somalia but i still consider all somali lands my homeland including hargaisa and burco fool, im not sick with qabiililnimo like and i thank Allah for that

  3. Libaan: for you to call us for a Unity it's disgusting, I mean 20 Years ago we started a journey that we know it would be hard, improbable and Long, that we will face many who will disagree with it regionally or internationally but above all that we challenged ourselves and the cynics who Said Somaliland is too divided, too disillusioned to come around a common purpose but guess what! we have anothering to say those who were skeptical about our Decision

    TContinued

  4. Libaan: for you to call us for a Unity it's disgusting, I mean 20 Years ago we started a journey that we know it would be hard, improbable and Long, that we will face many who will disagree with it regionally or internationally but above all that we challenged ourselves and the cynics who Said Somaliland is too divided, too disillusioned to come around a common purpose but guess what! we have anothering to say those who were skeptical about our Decision

    Continued

  5. Libaan: for you to call us for a Unity it's disgusting, I mean 20 Years ago we started a journey that we know it would be hard, improbable and Long, that we will face many who will disagree with it regionally or internationally but above all that we challenged ourselves and the cynics who Said Somaliland is too divided, too disillusioned to come around a common purpose but guess what! we have anothering to say those who were skeptical about our Decision

  6. Libaan: for you to call us for a Unity it's disgusting, I mean 20 Years ago we started a journey that we know it would be hard, improbable and Long, that we will face many who will disagree with it regionally or internationally but above all that we challenged ourselves and the cynics who Said Somaliland is too divided, too disillusioned to come around a common purpose but guess what! we have anothering to say those who were skeptical about our Decision

  7. Liban

    You talking about greater somalia, but look at Mughadishu (your door step), it is divided into 100 factions with half of them are islamist.

    There is a somali saying " Doqoni intay futokale maydhaysay ayaa keedii uraa".

    I believe u in this situation now……therefore clean your home first before you clean mine.

    • Mughadishu is not my door step you cleser to Mughadishu than i am, the whole point i was tring to make was why not move the capital to hargaisa and leave Mughadishu rule the nation from hargaisa, but some crazy clanist dogs dont see my point, if you break somalia into four or five mini states you will end up with smal and weak nations just like us in djibouti, but if you stick somalia togher you have a great nation with big population, just becouse somali people have gone thourgh civil war dosent justify to destroy it,

      • You are correct in wanting unification dear brother, however, the politics of Somalia are more complicated than you think. Simple kind, warm and gentle words will not change the bad blood and animosity between the people of Somaliland and the tribes of the south. Just look at the rhetoric of both the TFG and the Islamists. The TFG could have established diplomatic ties with the North, but instead chose the route of economic sabotage. They tell our neighbouring countries to cut economic ties with us in their effort to collapse our fragile institutions. IS THIS LOVE?, IS THIS BROTHERHOOD? Walahi No ! The Al shabab, on the other hand, have decided to declare a strange and unheard of form of jihad on the people of Somaliland.

        In all honesty, our brothers in the South have caused us nothing, but heartache and bloodshed. Historically, the people of Somaliland were the ones who first initiated the unification talks in the past. It was the ISAAQ people who wanted to unify the country under a single banner of brotherhood, and look what we got for our troubles.

        Finally, separation does not mean separation in the complete sense of the word, but rather a separation of government. We will continue to trade, communication and collaborate on issues of mutual interest such as security. However, the people of Somaliland will never be led by a Southern administration ever again.

        LONG LIVE SOMALILAND & TO HELL WITH ITS ENEMIES !

  8. Great read and ts high time the foreign minister started articulating the cause of Somaliland around the world rather than sit in his Hargeysa office and hope that oneday some nation will recognise Somaliland. As for Adow from Shabellenews, as usual the Somalis are underestimating our resolve to see through an internationally recognised Somaliland, no matter what happens in Mogadisho has no effect on the people of Hargeysa we have moved on 19 years ago and not looking back. I highly doubt relocating the Somali capital to Hargeysa is going to solve anything. Move on people of Somalia and fix your own country and stop expecting the world to come to your rescue, we solved our issues without help from any nation.

  9. Many of us have said it all along, that the road to peaceful Somalia is for the world communities to recognize Somaliland

    There some neighbouring Countries that wants the status quo to remain the way it is now.
    Because, once Somaliland join the world communities as an independent state, it will be a political force that knows how to deal with it Southern brothers, but there are a bigger force that do not want this to happen and our poor Southerners do not get it. I am sure they will come a time they will wake up from their day-dream and realize that Somalia peace goes through recognition of Somaliland..
    I hope soon someone, somewhere, who cares for the suffering people of Somalia will understand this.

  10. Liibaan,
    walaal, dont waste your time with young isaaq diaspora, they are the most backward ignorant stupid self centered youngsters of all young diaspora somalis,
    they actually believe that people from awdal support isaaq secessionists ideas, or that ethiopia and kenya would not bully and use them whenever they wish, trough tribal strings since no somali state is strong enough to withstand our neighbours by themself…………………………isaaq youngsters like to boast about today while in europe, but what they failed to realize is that isaaq people back home are in need of a strong government that can support them and defend them,.,.. and only a united somali government can do that, …bla bla bla siyad barre faqash darod hawiye mogadishu aaah terrorist cali mahdi aaah puntland…shut the hell up… with your backward excuses …. and support somali nationalisme for your children you mental defused isaaq idiot..

  11. yaa huba in mr Libaan yahay Somali? aniga iiguma muuqdo shaqsigaasi wiil soomaaliyeed sababtoo ah wuu ka khajili lahaa inuu somaliland iyo dadkeeda wax ka sheego, oo wuxuu dib u jaleeci lahaa somaaliayada uu leeyahay cidina ma qaybin karto meeday?! heerkee malaha wuxuu kamid yahay ajaanibka la sheego in ay kamid yihiin alshabaabta ee iska hubsada cidwalba looma jawaabo eh

  12. For those who are denying Somaliland sovereignty and calling out for Somalinimo, where were they when people of Somaliland were persecuted and their cities were equated with the ground, where were they when women and kids were driven from their homes and got killed and bombarded in their fleeing.
    What hurts me more is when those who are calling for Somalinimo are still defending their criminals and are proud of them and the atrocities they’ve committed against people of Somaliland. Where were they and their intellectuals who didn’t speak out, didn't feel the massacres people of Somaliland went through or take a single move against their government and still denying the history that took place?
    I am glad Somaliland is on their feet and has it is own system & flag. We may not be there yet but soon insha Allah will get there with the good intention. Some people may say the brutal dictator said bare attacked majerteen too, yes he did initially because they revolted against him, he embraced them later because of their clan and he didn’t do near anything to what his system done to the people of Somaliland.

  13. All those landers calling for separation
    are delusional. Stop crying for God’s sake. Most nations went through civil wars esp. the greatest nation, America during its civil war.

    It makes sense to build and maintain what Somaliland has done so far, but it doesn’t mean we leave our brothers to suffer and blame them for what the evil said barre has committed.

    And by the way I’m from Burco.

    Long live SOMALIA, well done SOMALILAND for its progress. The unity and fight against colonialism our forefathers bled for cannot just be desiccated by separation.