LAS ANOD (Somalilandpress) — Somaliland military said it thwarted a Puntland militant attack on members of it’s 12th division stationed in east of Las Anod on Monday morning.
Mr. Saleban Guled, Somaliland Defense minister, said there were no casualties on either side but the militants fled back to Puntland.
The attack came as Somaliland prepares the last leg of voter-registrations in the region.
According to an eyewitness, a search operation was also conducted in Tukaraq, a town some 50km south of Las Anod, against miscreants involved in terror activities. They said arms and cash were seized.
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Earlier this month, the security forces nabbed at least 20 suspected militants and Quranic teachers from Las Anod, who were accused of having ties with Somalia’s Al Shabab militants.
On the 29th of January, Mr. Ali Sundale, Somaliland’s Postal and Communication minister, suspended all communications in the town after reports suggested that mobile phones were used as ‘bomb triggers’.
Since the security measures were introduced there has not been any attacks in the region.
HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — A Sri Lankan citizen of Russian native was detained for questioning after he was caught attempting to smuggle a 13 year old girl from Puntland, Haatuf reports.
Asha Mohamed Hassan, 13, from Qardho in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, went to her usual work on Friday 5th of February in one of the local beauty salons where girls occasionally get their hands and feet decorated with henna. On that same day, an Italian woman, also a regular client, whose mother is said to be Somali came to the salon.
Asha told Haatuf, the Italian woman lured her with the promise of a job in Hargeisa that was paying $600 per month. She was told she will be working for a family as a housemaid, doing basic household chores.
“The Italian woman, who I met before asked if I wanted to work in Hargeisa, I told her, I tried before to go to Hargeisa to find a job but did not work out for me. However I told her if she would pay for my journey I was ready to go,” she said.
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After getting her clothes, Asha was forced into the boot of a car to avoid being seen by her sisters who run their own stalls in one of the central markets.
“She then asked me to get my belongings and be ready, there was a car leaving for Hargeisa tomorrow. After getting all my belongings she took me to a house in the out skirts of the city where she lived, a moment later a Mark II car approached us and she told the driver to hide me in the boot from my sisters and the guards at the check-points,” she told Haatuf.
Once they left the town of Qardho, Asha said, she was moved to the front seat of the car and crossed the border after few hours.
While traveling through the city of Buaro, Somaliland’s second largest town, the driver was contacted by a man who stated that the girl was to be delivered to him.
Once they arrived in Hargeisa, Asha claims, she was delivered to a ‘white man with damaged skin’. The man is actually a Sri Lankan who suffers from leprosy, a chronic skin disease. She added she was in a state of shock, disbelieve and distressed as she thought she would be working for a family not a man.
“I told him, I don’t know you and I will not go with you, he then requested I speak to my sister referring to the Italian woman,” she said.
The driver took the girl to one of his relatives in Hargeisa where she is currently staying. Later she find out that the Sri Lankan man was detained by the police and is said to be in prison.
Asha has since contacted her family and his in good spirit.
In a press conference in Hargeisa today, Somaliland police Chief, Col. Mohamed Shiil Dibar said they have detained a Sri Lankan man of Russian origin. He said, the man, who lived in Qardho for five years wanted to take the girl to Russia. He warned Somaliland parents to be alert and at all times monitor their children.
No one knows if the driver will face any charges and Puntland has not commented either and no one knows if the Italian woman in the centre of the trafficking is detained.
In a similar incident, a young girl is currently held in Burao by the regional authority after she was kidnapped by an Oromo lady (ethnic group in Ethiopia) and sold her to two Ethiopian men.
Halima Osman Bile, the mother, said her daughter went missing midday in the town of Bandar Bayla in Puntland, near the northern tip of Somalia, where pirate base Eyl is more popular.
The little girl was taken to Puntland’s commercial town of Bosaaso before she was smuggled into Somaliland.
She is currently held in Burao by the local authority as police investigate the matter. The case is still under review.
No one knows the number of children trafficked, kidnapped or smuggle each year between Somaliland and Somalia but there has been a sharp increase in recent years due to the lack of border patrols and influx of immigrants. Child smuggling was unheard of in Somaliland and Puntland but in recent years there have been an influx of immigrants displaced in Ethiopia and Southern Somalia, where kidnapping children is more common.
It was not long ago, when a lady from Southern Somalia also kidnapped a two year old child from the town of Las Anod before her family informed the police.
In early February of this year, Somaliland’s minister of Family Affairs and Social Development, Ms. Fatima Sudi voiced her concern about the new problem of human trafficking.
“This is something new to us but widely known in the war torn places. It is called human trafficking,” she said.
Ms. Sudi said her Ministry has been working hard in finding a viable solution to the issue and dealing with the tremendous immigration problem.
“We thank [the] UN & NGOs, who had assisted us with the problem of human trafficking. We extend special thanks to the government of Japan, who funded IOM to assist us on these matters,” the minister said.
“There are people who are experts on carrying out human trafficking activities. They lure people, they tell them that there are better places with better life, but at the end those innocent lives will be exploited.”
Ms. Sudi said they will be launching massive awareness campaign and very soon huge billboards will go up in the regions of Awdal, Hargeisa, Sahil, Togdheer and Baligubadle.
According to an analyst, most of the trafficking involve immigrants or foreigners in the country.
HARGEISA, 23 February 2010 (Somalilandpress) – On 16 February, the ISG members held their regular monthly meeting at the Academy of Peace and Development (APD) to discuss and assess the overall progress made on the six-point Agreement. The meeting was sponsored by the Social Research and Development Institute (SORADI). It was moderated by its Acting-Director, Haroon H Ahmed Yusuf. The Somaliland Independent Scholar’s Group (ISG) members are all long-term participants of Somaliland rebuilding and democratization process, who are considered to be highly competent to provide an objective analysis and strategy to address the issues at hand. The ISG members are: Abdi-shakur Sh Ali-Jowhar (Psychiatrist and political analyst: warkamaanta.com), Amina Mohamoud Warsame (Executive Director of NAGAAD); Abdilkadir H Ismail Jirde (Ex-Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament- now travelling), Shukri H. Ismail (Former National Electoral Commissioner and Member of African Democracy Forum and Chair of Candle Light); Ibrahim Jama Ali –Raite (Member of Parliament and Lawyer), Fawsi Sh. Yonis (Somaliland Lawyer’s Association); Abdi Ahmed Nour (Forum for Peace and Governance-FOBAG), Bobe Y. Duale (Research Coordinator, APD), Haroon H Ahmed Qulumbe (SORADI), Jafar Mohamed Gadaweyne (SONSAF); Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim (Researcher-APD), Suad Ibrahim Abdi (Researcher-APD); Wais Muse (Executive Director of Samatalis Coalition of Human Rights)), Dr. Mohamed Fadal, Director of (SORADI);Muse Abdi Elmi (U. of Hargeisa; Dean Academic Affairs) Dr. Yusuf Kariye (Researcher in Anthropology; Hinda Mohamed Jama (an Associate of Burao University); Dr. Aden Abokor(Progressio Country Rep.)..
II. The Current political atmosphere
The national political mood continues to be focused on the much awaited Presidential Election. And though every stakeholder would like to hear a date set for the election, yet no one is willing at this stage to push the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to set a hasty date, which can lead to a situation like the past disappointments.
As the momentum gained after signing the six-point agreement (on 30th September, 2009) is slowly dissipating, the goodwill it created among the parties is also being slowly eroded. Furthermore, the public is evaluating the effect and influences each of the recent political disputes within the Somaliland’s key national institutions may have on the all encompassing presidential election.
These include the recent dispute among the Chairman of the Guurti and his two deputies, which threatened to open up a whole set of other problems, which could derail the preparation for the elections. The Guurti quarrel is alleged to be over power-sharing among the chairing team. If so, they are encouraged to put their acts together and solve their internal problems.
On the other hand, present practice of all political parties launching thinly veiled political campaigns could be violating Somaliland election laws and existing codes of conduct and may lead to increased tensions before we even reach the official campaign period.
A further source of concern for Somaliland’s fragile democracy is when the key Government institutions do not cooperate. The primary purpose of Parliament in a democratic society is to oversee the performance of the Executive Branch. Recent experience from the Parliament and Executive Branch is not in any way helping the credibility of the Somaliland institutions. Lack of overall cooperation among these institutions coupled with the increasingly evident institutional weaknesses in both Houses of Parliament may lead to a constitutional crisis of serious proportions if not dealt with sooner than later.
III. On the NEC Performance
The NEC is still enjoying the trust of all stakeholders and is making good progress in the preparation for the election. They have re-built good working relations with the international donors and started filling their organisational capacity gaps. Their strategy is to implement activities in parallel to safe run up time to the Presidential election. Some of NEC’s most significant accomplishments to date include;
* Approval of the terms of reference for the independent expert assessment.
* Participated in and supported the independent assessment, carried out jointly by NEC and the Electoral Reform International Service (ERIS), as called for by the 6 point Agreement.
* Managed to get funding green light from donors to start the implementation of key activities while the overall budget is still being finalized and agreed upon.
* Established and operationalized the recruitment and tender evaluation panels
* Developed recruitment policies and procedures, and hired key Headquarters staff, as well as, 90% of the regional and district staff..
* Supported the recruitment of International election specialists, eleven of which have been recruited.
* Developed a Voter Education concept paper to be presented to the international and NEC specialists for their use.
* Developed and discussed the NEC By-Laws, which are currently in the final stages of approval.
* Drafted the political parties Code of Conduct, which will be shared and negotiated with the parties.
IV. Action Awaited From NEC
1. NEC needs to address the following issues as soon as possible:
– Though no one is advising NEC to rush into hasty elections, there are legitimate concerns that need to be noted. Setting the date of the presidential election is not only central to the six-point agreement, but will also give some kind of perspective to the elections of the other national institutions. Setting the presidential election date is also important for the mobilization of international election observes.
– The launching of campaigning of political parties is a legal issue. Therefore, all stakeholders need to analyse and agree what constitutes a political campaign before it becomes a problem and causes damage to NEC’s credibility. And if any particular party is found to be breaching the laws and the existing codes of conduct, it should face sanctions.
– NEC is expected to address also the issue of Election Monitoring Board. Is there need to activate it now?
– The Media plays a critical role in the conduct of elections process. NEC needs to engage the media and to push through their updated press code of conduct.
2. Voter registration (Server)
Publishing a final voter registration list is a very important milestone for Somaliland that needs to be crossed, in order to hold the Somaliland presidential election. The experts have done an initial evaluation of the server containing the electoral list and they have started the clean up process. However, there are a number of sensitive issues that need to be addressed carefully by NEC.
* In a recent press conference the NEC indicated that the voter list preparation can take 2 to 3 months…. there has been some cautious but clearly itchy reactions from the political parties
* A voter list display period at the polling stations is also planned: each voter will be told that he/she will vote only once despite the illegal multiple or double registration the person has done during the registration.
* There are also plans for some of form of validation process, which may include NEC issuing new ID cards.
Therefore, NEC needs to:
* Inform the public with VERY LARGE letters about these plans and their objectives – there should not be any chance given to misinterpretation and misinformation.
* Consider the repercussions (if any) of an open-ended election period. How long would the immediate stakeholders and the public at large wait?
V. Recommendations for the way forward
1. Let the NEC take its time in the preparation for the election, but be transparent about it plans
2. Voter education should start early
3. Ballot papers need to be ordered as early as possible to safe time.
4. NEC should apply sanctions defined in the Electoral Law for offences committed against it and against other agreements reached by stakeholders
5. The House of Elders needs to settle its internal dispute and attend to other urgent national matters awaiting it.
6. The legitimacy and legality of current Local Councils, whose original and additional terms ended, need to be addressed.
7. The House of Representatives needs to start amending its Election Law, to lay the ground for its approaching election
Mogadishu, 22 February 2010 (Somalilandpress) – “I nearly became a pirate,” 28- year-old Dji told Xinhua correspondents Saturday at a clinic run by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), in the capital city of a country which has not seen an effective central government since 1991.
Dji is the name this young man invented for safety reasons. He came to the AMISOM’s medical services to get medicine for his family members. Being a journalist, Dji is among the very few Mogadishu residents that can speak English.
Dji told Xinhua he likes his profession. “I like this job, if the militants stop me I can tell them I am a journalist.”
However, this young guy could have become a pirate, a profession that this Horn of Africa nation is internationally famous for these days.
“I know some people who are in this trade, some are even my relatives,” Dji said. He mentioned that one of his uncles is with the pirate network and has actually offered Dji a job in the condemnable but sometimes highly lucrative business.
“Two years ago, my uncle came to Mogadishu and asked me to join them. I was totally astonished then. I had no idea what a pirate is like but by instinct I trust my uncle,” he said.
Dji also heard rumors that this uncle is very rich, with big house, servants, and even some property in neighboring Kenya. What amazed this young man the most was that Uncle Rich only have to work for once in months.
“That is attractive, and the job could be so easy for me. They need somebody to negotiate in English, I can speak English,” he said. Further more, his uncle provided for him a “trusted link”, without which it would be very hard to step into the network.
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After serious consideration, Dji gave up this offer. “I am badly in need of money, but I know money should not be earned in that way.”
He explained that the pirates initially operated under the banner of “driving off foreign fishing ships”, but gradually they did whatever they could to grab money.
“Now what they care about is money, they can even kill people for that,” he said.
Instead of falling into the ditch of notorious piracy, Dji now becomes a journalist, a job that enables him to tell the true happenings of this war-ravaged city and a country deeply submerged in crisis.
Somalia, the Horn of Africa nation, has been plagued by civil strife since the overthrow of military strongman Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Islamist rebels run much of south and center of the country while the Somali government control small parts of the restive capital Mogadishu.
Some less than 5,000 AU peacekeepers, mainly contributed by Uganda and Burundi, are being based here to help Somalia’s transitional government to control key sites as the airport and sea ports, as well as important government buildings.
The lack of a strong central government and long-lasting conflicts have provided breeding ground for pirates, who have made the Somali waters one of the world’s most dangerous sea routes for commercial ships.
K’naan’s single ‘Waving flags’ has been chosen as the official anthem of 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Coca Cola has just released the latest version featuring David Bisbal, a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish pop singer.
Why don’t you tell us who you think will win the World Cup. Do you think any African team out off the five (South Africa, Algeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria) will make it to the final leg of the competition?
Burco (Somalilandpress)- Wasiirka Wasaarada Hawlaha Guud iyo Guryaynta Somaliland ayaa maanta si rasmi ah xadhiga uga jaray Biriij Saddexaad oo ku soo biiray Labadii ay hore u lahayd Magaaladu, kuwaaso mid kood dadweynaha ku dhaqani dhisteen, halka ka kalena uu ahaa mid hore u jiray. Biriijkan cusub ee lagu soo kordhiyay xarunta gobolka Togdheer oo uu dhismihiisa qaatay mudo dheer, aadna loo sugayay ayaa waxa fikirka dhismihiisa lahaa, isla-markaana maal-geliyay Company-ga caanka ah daafaha caalamka ee Dahabshiil, munaasibad balaadhan ayaana maanta daaha lagaga rogay, isla-markaana xadhigaga lagaga jaray.
Maareeyaha shirkada Dahabshiil ee gobollada Bariga Somaliland, Mr. Nuux Siciid Ducaale oo hadalo ka jeediyay furitaankii bariijkan cusub ayaa carabka ku dhuftay inay shirkad ahaan joogtayn doonaan, oo aanay ka caajisayn hawlaha horumarineed ee ay ka wadaan gobollada iyo degmooyinka wadanka Somaliland oo uu dhalasho ahaan ka soo jeedo mulkiilaha shirkadan caalamiga ahi, isaga oo farta ku fiiqay inay dedaal dheeri ah ugu jiraan sidii ay u sii wadi lahaayeen shirkad ahaan kor-u-qaadka iyo tayada biliceed ee magaalooyinka waawayn dalka.
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Munaasibada xadhigaga lagaga jaray Bariijka Saddexaad ee Burco yeelatay ayaa ahayd mid kulmisay wajiyo badan oo ka tirsan qaybaha bulshada, ah noqdeen Masuuliyiinta gobolka Togdheer, masuuliyiinta Axsaabta Qaranka ee heer-gobolka, Wasiiro ka yimi Hargeysa, kuwa hore ugu sugnaa Burco, dhalinyaro, haween, waxgarad iyo bulsho waynta ku dhaqan gobolka Togdheer gaar ahaan Burco.
Masuuliyiinta soo abaabushay munaasibada Xadhiga laga jaray Biriishka Cusub ayaa madasha ka mabnuucay in la isku dhaafsado Ereyo ay ka muuqato siyaasada iyo kala jiidasho taageerayaasha Gobolka.
Maaha markii koowaad ee Gobolka Toghdeer gaar ahaan Magaalada Burco laga hir galiyo Biriish, hase ahaatee mudo yar ka hor ayey hayd markii Biriish Laga qotamiyey badhtamaha magaalada Burco gaar ahaana wadada qaybta garoonka Kubada Cagta ee Burco.
Dadweynaha ku dhaqan magaalada Burco ayaa Bariijkan Saddexaad ee laga bineeyay uu yahay fariin adag oo ay u dirayaan reer Hargeysa, kuwaasoo xukuumad, dadweyne, ganacsato, qurba-joog iyo qaybahooda kala duwaniba ay ku guul-daraystaan inay dhistaan Bariijkii Labaad ee magaaladaas oo roob daadad watay dumiyay sanadkii 2005-tii oo haatan laga joogo 5 sano oo waxyar la’.
Addis Ababa, (Somalilandpress) — Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) signed an agreement with the country’s religious army, the Ahlu Sunna WalJamaa, in Addis Ababa Friday, in which the two groups agreed to form a joint government and set up a common military command.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is expected to appoint – from the Ahlu Sunna WalJamaa (ASWJ) – five ministers, five assistant ministers, five directors-general for state firms and five director’s-general to lead various ministries, according to the agreement, a copy of which was seen by PANA Friday.
The Somali army will also include three deputy army commanders from the ASWJ, to be posted to the various state security organs,including the National Army and the Police force, in addition to the setting up of a joint military command. These must be established within the next 30 days.
Somali’s Deputy Prime Minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and the Ahlu Sunna WalJamaa’s Spiritual leader, Sheikh Mahmoud Sheikh Hassan, signed the agreement in Addis Ababa, witnessed by the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the UN Political Office for Somalia.
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The agreement also offers Ahlu Sunna WalJamaa three ambassadorial posts, three consular officers, military attaches, commercial attaches and cultural attaches.
TFG agreed to recognize the areas under the rule of ASWJ control and it will set up police presence in those areas where it has control. Its administration would be supported and offered legal recognition.
The agreement was part of negotiations that started in Nairobi in June 2009, following the signing of earlier agreements in Djibouti, which created the present TFG.
ASWJ has pledged to help the government to fight the Islamic militant group, the Al Shabab, which has been fighting to remove the TFG from power.
The signing of the agreement in Addis Ababa means that the TFG would still face up the Al Shabab and Hizbul Islam as its two main rivals.
HARGEISA, (Somalilandpress) — Telesom, one of the major telecommication carriers in Somaliland announced on Thursday the launch of the first environment-friendly and cost-effective solar-powered mobile system in the country.
Mohamed Isaaq, Marketing Director, Telesom Consumer said, Telesom was translating consumer demands based on the fact that 80% of the people in Somaliland are pastoral communities who live without electricity or live in areas with unreliable access to power.
He added that Telesom wanted all people to stay connected in all areas of life and that nomadic groups were aware of the ticking time-bomb that comes with their lifestyle. Mr Mohamed cited, many nomads were already using their services but discovered some flaws in the system such as unable to recharge batteries.
Mr Mohamed said, they were the first company to unveil this services in the country and the system was custom made for them by an international firm.
Mohamed said that the mobile came at a fixed price of $30 US-dollars.
The company has already given out 25 mobile phones for trials and said so far it has been successful.
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Farah Sugal, Innovation Director (regional), said Telesom already had huge customers in the rural area but many were frustrated because they would often send their mobiles to big towns just to recharge. He said the process would often take days and some times weeks, and this was a huge problem to the network.
This is not the first time Telesom has unveiled new system to the country, in 2009, it launched the ‘ZAAD‘ services – mobile banking, making it the first African fully owned company to do so and the fifth in the world after Smart, MTN, Vodafone and Zain. ZAAD services also includes mobile remittance – an important lifeline for millions of Somalis in East Africa.
Telesom was recently invited to the Summit of the African Union (AU) on the theme; ‘Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Prospects and Challenges for Development’ in the Ethiopian capital. Telesom show cased their services and products such as SMS, mobile banking and others that they have deployed in this unrecognized Somaliland.
Telesom is one of the leading and most respected names in Somaliland which not only continues to bring innovation and connect this unrecognized republic but also contribute to the development of the community.
Telesom funds many of the leading high learning institutions in the country as well as underprivilege students, funds and sponsors social events and brings awareness. They also contribute to the rehabilitation of roads and are currently the main investor of Borama-Dilla highway.
There is no official telecommunication regulatory body in Somaliland but all operators cooperate with Somaliland Telecom Operators Association where they agree on fixed prices and provide the information to the Ministry of Information.
The main telecommunication competitors in the country are Telcom, Telesom, Somtel, Africa Online (internet), Soltelc and NationLink. Fierce competition among the operators has driven consumer costs down for instance an international mobile call is as low as $0.30 per minute or less, six times lower than most African states.
HARGEISA, 21 February 2010 (Somalilandpress) – A Somali warrior poet once said, “Rag hadaad colaad leedihiin, ciidanse uwaydo, waxkastood ku ciil bixi kartaa kuu cawo aduune…or if you are embroiled in a hostile war with other men but don’t have a counter attack force, anything that could alleviate your pain serves as luck on your side.”
Taking the advice of the poet, if Somaliland cannot escape from its isolation and mobilize the resources needed to break through the formidable concrete walls encompassing it, engaging with any nation that could alleviate Somaliland’s ordeal is a fair game: be it Israel or Iran, or an alien republic in Mars.
Form 1991 to present, Somaliland remains an independent but unrecognized state, alienated by none other than the Arabs who Somalilanders consider brothers and sisters. Worse still, as if alienation and economic holocaust towards Somaliland could not deliver the final blow, among others, Somaliland remains in the midst of a turbulence sea, yet no end to its miseries. To top it, never before has Somaliland faced a relentless terrorist attacks from none other than Southern Somalia’s extremist groups, namely: Al-Shabaab. See terrorist attacks details: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/137149
Now, despite building an impressive democratic system (a dream in many parts of Africa; unthinkable in the Arab world), despite establishing a peaceful state, and despite combating piracy, terrorism, and human trafficking in Horn of Africa, Somaliland is awarded with sanctions including livestock ban, using its passport, and barring its leaders from attending Arab, African, as well as International conferences.
Traditionally, chocking the lifeline of a country is something reserved for a rogue regime which supports terrorisms and bent to spur mayhem in the International community. But ironically, self-destructive autocratic regimes receive better treatment than the democratic state of Somaliland does. Why?
Much of the hostilities and isolations towards Somaliland stems from its refusal to budge on Arab demands. That is, coercing Somaliland to accept another gunshot marriage with Somalia. Now, the Arab world instead of first providing Somaliland an economic incentive to mediate Somalia’s warring factions, and then convincing Somaliland to have a dialogue with Somalia, Arab rulers opted to suffocate Somaliland first; and then rebuild Somalia. Without a doubt, at times, as its mouth fell open, Somaliland desperately grasped for a breath of air but because of its determination it remains defiant.
However, recently the Arab rulers’ attitude towards Somaliland has softened up; for instance the livestock ban has been lifted. Now, the rulers changed their hearts not because they finally have mercy for Somaliland but because of other factors: for one thing, Somalia’s remains drowned in a sea of blood and its Oceans infested with pirates. Also, its leaders have gone from tribal warlords to religious warmongers. They just changed shirts. Surprise!
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For another, two of the most powerful countries in the Middle East: Israel and Iran are now flexing their muscles over East Africa, specifically, Somaliland’s strategic port Berbera. They both want to use the port as a naval base. But the problem is Arab leaders perceive Iran and Israel as archenemies of Arab states, a threat to the Middle East monarchies. Now for the Arab states to have either of their natural adversaries in port Berbera, which has strategic importance, is unthinkable.
During the cold war, port Berbera served as a naval base for the Soviet forces first and later for the U.S. marines. The city also has one of the longest runways in Africa; that is, in the event of emergency landing, the Space Shuttle Discovery could descend on the city’s airport. But more important, its airport could be used as the springboard to stamp out terrorism in East Africa and piracy in the Golf of Aden.
But for the Iranians and Israelis, their mission has little to do with curbing terrorism or eradicating piracy and has more to do with: out competing against each other as well as edging out the Arab countries.
Now, the U.S. which has its forces in Djibouti will resolutely oppose establishing an Iranian naval base in Berbera. But the U.S. may not necessarily oppose Israelis. Arab rulers, on the other hand, consider both Iran and Israel’s presence in Berbera as undesirable.
Meanwhile, port Berbera is evidently the bargaining chip for Somaliland to achieve its goal. Currently, Somalilanders couldn’t care less whether it is Iranians or Israelis, or aliens from Mars that establish a naval base in port Berbera as long as they recognize Somaliland. Will Iran and Israel’s competition for East Africa trigger Somaliland’s recognition?
Depending who offers the bigger economic and military incentives, both Israel and Iran are welcomed in Somaliland. Doubtlessly, if executed properly, Somaliland has two Ace cards to play with.
• Arabs and Iran: if Israelis gains the competitive edge, Arab countries and Iran need to wake up and smell the coffee. They should iron out their differences with Somaliland to avert an Israel influence in East Africa.
• U.S., Israel, and Arab countries: if, however, Iran puts all its eggs in one basked as to win the hearts and minds of Somaliland people which could be achieved easily since Somalilanders view Iran as a Muslim nation, U.S., Israel, and Arab countries will have no choice but give Somaliland what it wants so that Iran doesn’t base its naval forces in port Berbera. U.S. should offer huge economic incentives to Somaliland while Arabs end isolating it economically and politically. This is not too much to ask, is it?
Ultimately, no matter how the dice is rolled, one thing is clear: Somaliland will look after its interest. Be it with Iran or Israel, Somaliland is open for business—first come, first served.
Written by:
Dalmar Kaahin
dalmar_k@yahoo.com
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial
