MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region said on Monday it had cut all ties with the central government in a likely setback to efforts to pacify the Horn of Africa Country as it emerges from two decades of conflict.

Puntland accused the Mogadishu government of refusing to share power and foreign aid with the regions in line with the country’s federal structure, as well as taking its eye off the fight against al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants.

“The fragmented country has been plunged back into a vicious cycle of violence, displacement, clan animosities and a complete disregard for the country’s genuine Provisional Federal Constitution,” Puntland’s administration said in an official statement.

“Puntland hereby suspends all cooperation and relations with (the) Federal Government of Somalia.”

The election in September of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a political newcomer with a background in reconciling clan feuds, was seen as a vote for change.

But he has struggled to overcome acrimonious clan politics, corruption and a stubborn Islamist insurgency. Somalia’s neighbors and foreign powers fear a return to civil war in a country long seen as a launchpad for militant Islam.

Mohamud’s cash-strapped federal government exerts little authority beyond the capital. How to divvy up power between the center and regions is a thorny issue that the provisional constitution failed to address.

In a country where clan loyalties rather than ideology determine political support and access to resources, analysts say Mogadishu is reluctant to hand power to the provinces fearing a breakup of the state. Meanwhile the regions are demanding more autonomy.

Puntland’s move raises the prospect of other regions following suit, in particular Jubaland in the far south where dozens of civilians have been killed in recent fighting between two rival warlords who claim control.

Puntland said it would only resume normal relations with Mogadishu when the central government respected the country’s federal structure. There was no immediate response from the federal government.

Puntland has largely avoided being caught up in successive Islamist insurgencies although its shores have been a haven for pirates. But al Shabaab rebels, squeezed out of their redoubts in southern and central Somalia by African peacekeepers, have slowly infiltrated Puntland, regional officials say.

Somaliland, on Somalia’s northwestern tip, declared itself independent in 1991 shortly after civil war erupted, but it is not an internationally recognized as a sovereign state.

Source: Reuters

 

1 COMMENT

  1. Farole is out of his mind someone help this guy. He has no right to cut relation from his own country. He is against his own enclave, against Khatumo, against Somaliland, where is he going with this. The people of Puntland need to stop him before they suffer from his actions.

    • I am sorry bro, Faroole is not out of his mind, someone needs to remind Culusow that he cannot be allowed to dictate as he wishes, did you ever see the prime minister going any place? He is just there as statue and the parliament has no power. Look those days of one man rule is gone. The reality is that Somalia is a different place today, Somaliland declared itself a country and with a good reason, plus Puntland has its own army, police and can rightly declare itself a free region, Juballand is gone so what?

  2. As Shabab returns to muugandishu Hassan Mahamoud has no opportunity to claim the title of president.

    Faroole must not cooperate until Cuuluso deposed!

    • @ Buuxiye I totally agree with you, I was a unionist, but now I changed my mind, this man has failed. He was obsessed with Somaliland while he was guarded by Bantus, then he became obsessed with the rest of the country forgetting that he only controls part of Mogadishu. Shabaab will soon return to Mogadishu. Culusow will soon be deposed, what the hell happened to him anyway? we thought he was more educated that his cousin Sheik Sharif, but it seems Sharif was better man.

      • Did you guys here this new president talking about Somaliland and how we are just a till angry but will come back to the union? I had a hopes for him being peaceful but with the action against our printing our own money and that comment I will not endorse him again

    • Not very clever are you Buuxiye ever heard of never wish something out of anger.

      If Alshabaab does return to power in Mogadishu expect Garowe to be next then Hargeisa just like the ICU were doing until the skirtless pirate cheerleaders started using foreign muscle.

      Remember they're already in their hundreds in Galgala and have their sleeper cells/sympathizers throughout Puntland/Somaliland with Yemen right across waiting for that green light and backup : )

  3. Buuxiye is the man ,yesterdays khat session was epic bro , clan bashing, false pride, laying down your insecurities, sweet tea and middle aged xalimos doing baraan bur , what more do you need ..The life i tell ya ; )

    For your information me being from puntland we do not share the opinion of Farole the biggest secret is we have been trying to hide is that Puntland isnt a Government but a window dressed sub sub sub sub clan

    Arent you all getting tired of this delusional pathetic anymosity between somali clans i mean in this day and age ..the world is past borders it is past skin colour or creed the only thing that matters now is Interest and economic collaboration and alliances are you guys to dumb to see. Were is the Individualism Are we our Tribes ! can we not be bonded by ideology anymore ? do we have to be from the same tribe ? Im sure im just wasting my time writing this.

      • My Country is Somaliland my people are Somalilanders. The Somali speaking people of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somali-federation are my neighbors. They are no different to me then the 35Million Oroma people or the 2 Million Turkana people, or the 3Million Afar people who are also my neighbors.

        Speaking somali does not give any of my neighbor any right to violate the laws of my country or espionage the aspiration of my country as such any neighbor that respects my country and it's right to exist will in turn get my respect.

        Any of my neighbors who wish to cause harm to my country and my people should in turn expect nothing less then total collateral retaliation to their country and people.

        An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We will not always be in a position of reaction and that day history will dictate our action towards those of our neighbors who violated our rights!

  4. Renegade Puntland, an integral part of the Mudug regional provinces, which remained
    in-between the side lines since 1998, although in real essence, participating in
    sharing the powers of all the FGS top to bottom, is also a full member of the
    roadmap Signatories of the FGS treaty which is fully backed and supported by the IC/UN
    stakeholders. The two top brass of the FGS are President Hawiye and the PM Darod.
    The FGS are fully responsible to represent and maintain overall authority over all policies
    and political undertakings of all the roadmap concerning the failed Sovereignty of Somalia
    proper with the exception of Somaliland which is a seperate Sovereign State and a
    non-Signatory entity . The TCC conference in Kampala Uganda on 4th August 2013 also
    came up with further final communique supporting the powers of the FGS. Therefore
    Puntland and Jubaland new conflicts should have no serious consequences aimed to
    destablize the good governance and amending the constitution to suit good governance.
    Faroole and Madobe can not have it both ways by destablizing the FGS and the IC/UN
    by causing unnecessary problems.
    Cheers.

  5. Puntland has been a safe haven for the bloodsuckers (Puntland regional warlords) to hide out and strike as an opportunity becomes available in Mogadishu since it's inception. So, if it has decided to declare a separate entity, so be it. Somalia should be better off without Puntland's influence, anyway…

    • osman Qaal,

      Stop been stupid, still you live the past. when politics changes things has to change also………

  6. There is no such such thing as center in the former Somalia and their perpetual conflict syndrome. Muuqdisho is not a government but a clan figment located in a hundred ethnically cleansed place where over 80% of the completely obliterated place is inhabited by one clan. At the same time it only exists because of the few Jadheed soldiers from Uganda. Without them Culusow with his empty threats willl be history. Walweyn hallucinate and can't perceive their devastating weakness. Today Culsow has no miliary, police, intelligence system and so forth. The place can't be a center for anybody. I am talking about Somali-Italia.

  7. Sending Tom and Jerry to School. This is what Zoomalia looks like. When ignorants speak, they say peace!

  8. Farole should have done earlier hassan sheikh mohamud is not a man of peace but another hawiye moryaan who's following the old path clan-based politics of USC.

  9. Whether Pirateland collaborate with Mogadishu or not, is not Somaliland business. They can get along or fight to death. Somaliland is totally separate entity.If Farool think he will follow Somaliland path toward independence he is daydreaming. Somaliland has history behind it what history does Pirateland has that is different from the rest of Italian Somali? Nothing!

    • Somaliland have not gone that far in terms of " RECOGNITION" wake spell the coffee…………

      • We have full recognition of our people, that is the most important than forced withdrawal.
        Never again will we be second to anyone.

  10. Somalia doesn’t have central government!!!!! Reuters need to get it right. It suppose to be federal government before they corrupted the constitution. Welldone Puntland adm. For disassociating with Xamar and Hargeisa crooks.

  11. There is interesting development from Somalia every day and the latest is that Michael Howard has become in charge of Somalia's prospective oil industry. No wonder the Brits are soo keen on union and on Mr Culusow. So far the Brits are:

    Running the UN mission in Somalia
    Have formed a company entirely created for the Somalia oil explorations, it seems.
    And are advising both the president's office and the Prime Minister's.

    Anyway, Mr Faroole is in a tight spot!

  12. Oil and Gas Agreement Signed with Somalia,

    06 August 2013

    Soma Oil & Gas Exploration Limited announces that it has signed an agreement with the Government of the Federal Republic of Somalia to assist in the development of the country’s hydrocarbons sector. This represents the first agreement in Somalia’s oil and gas industry since the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the appointment of an internationally recognized Government in 2012 following decades of civil war.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Soma Oil & Gas will conduct seismic surveying in Somalia’s territorial waters in areas agreed with the Government and in certain limited onshore areas. The Company will also collate and reprocess historic seismic data using modern techniques, and prepare an evaluation of Somalia’s petroleum potential. Soma Oil & Gas will create a data room for the Somali Government, into which all available data will be placed.

    The survey that Soma Oil & Gas conducts will give it the right to nominate and obtain exploration and drilling rights under Production Sharing Agreements for prospective areas.

    Prior to 1991 a number of International Oil Companies were granted licences in the country, which, according to oil industry experts has some of the largest prospective resources within East Africa, an area of already great industry interest.

    Soma Oil & Gas was founded earlier this year expressly with a view to exploring in Somalia. Chief Executive, Robert Sheppard, a former senior executive of BP, Amoco and Sidanco, with over 40 years’ experience in the industry, joined the Company in May. Lord Howard of Lympne, former British Home Secretary and Leader of the Conservative Party, is the Company’s Chairman.

    Robert Sheppard, CEO of Soma Oil & Gas, said:

    “We formed Soma Oil & Gas having identified an opportunity to conduct exploration in Somalia as it emerges from a lengthy period of civil conflict. Despite large recent discoveries in East Africa, Somalia remains a significantly underexplored region. We believe that this agreement to assist the Government and the work that is due to be carried out over the next 12-18 months will provide significant momentum for the oil and gas sector in Somalia.”

    Lord Howard of Lympne, Chairman of Soma Oil & Gas, said:

    “This agreement reflects the close collaboration between the UK and Somalia and it is our intention to assist Somalia to develop an active hydrocarbons sector that will attract significant foreign investment to the country. We intend that Soma Oil & Gas’ commitment in Somalia will boost the local economy and generate new opportunities for employment for Somali nationals.”

    For further information please contact:

    FTI Consulting
    Oliver Winters, Sara Powell +44 (0)20 7269 7183

    Management Biographies

    Chairman – The Rt Honourable Lord Howard of Lympne, CH, QC

    Lord Howard has been Chairman of Soma Oil & Gas Exploration Limited since May 2013. He is the former leader of the Conservative Party in Britain, a distinguished lawyer, and served as a Member of Parliament in Britain for 27 years. He filled many government posts, including Home Secretary, Secretary of State for Employment and Secretary of State for the Environment, as well as Shadow Foreign Secretary and Shadow Chancellor. After his retirement from the House of Commons at the 2010 General Election, Lord Howard was created a Life Peer. He was created a Companion of Honour in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, 2011. Lord Howard is Non-Executive Chairman of Entree Gold Inc, Arena Racing Corporation Limited and Luup Limited. He sits on the Advisory Boards of Orca Exploration Inc and Tetronics Limited and is Senior Adviser to Cannacord Genuity Limited.

    Chief Executive Officer – Robert Sheppard

    Mr. Sheppard founded and serves as Chairman of the consulting company, IPM Advisors. He is a Non-Executive Director of the Blackrock Emerging Europe Trust and is a Director of DTEK Holding BV, the largest private energy company in the Ukraine. Mr. Sheppard is also a senior advisor to BP on Russia and the Former Soviet Union. He served on the Board of TNK-BP until 2008 and was CEO of Sidanco prior to the merger that created TNK-BP. In his 40 plus years in the energy business, Mr. Sheppard has been the President of Amoco’s operations in Argentina and Egypt as well as Managing Director of GUPCO (Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company) and was Amoco’s Vice President for the UK North Sea in the late 80s. Mr. Sheppard graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1972 and has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics. He graduated from the Columbia University Business School in 1991 with an Executive MBA degree.
    http://www.somaoilandgas.com

  13. Brits want to steal our resources. Don’t worry we’ll kick the former colony out of our soil once again. Insha’allah.