The president of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland said on Friday his administration will only negotiate with Somalia if it is for the recognition of their respective states’ sovereignty.
”Somaliland’s independence is sacred and efforts to discuss Somaliland uniting with Somalia are futile and a waste of time,” President Dahir Riyale Kahin said by telephone from Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, on Friday.
Somaliland unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of Somalia in May 1991, five months after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled.
But despite developing the tools of statehood, including a flag and currency, and enjoying relative peace compared with Somalia, the breakaway state has not been recognised by the international community.
Kahin said: ”If Somaliland were to abandon its existence as a free nation in the world, then there would be no reason why it declared its independence.
”I have the full support of my people to stick to our freedom. It is good for Somalia and Somaliland to recognise each other and to make our region a peaceful place.”
Kahin was reacting to remarks made at the swearing-in ceremony in Nairobi on Thursday of Somali President Abdulaahi Yusuf Ahmed, who was elected last weekend by Somalia’s federal Parliament, which sits in Nairobi due to security concerns in Mogadishu.
”I will discuss with leaders of north-west Somalia, calling itself Somaliland, about the unity of Somalia. We will not use force to bring about the unity of Somalia, only dialogue,” Yusuf told the ceremony, attended by seven African presidents, including the African Union chairperson, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Somaliland council of ministers and chamber of elders had earlier declared they will not hold discussions with Somalia about reuniting the two states, a decision that has also been supported by two opposition parties in Somaliland.
While Somaliland has been relatively peaceful since it declared independence, the rest of Somalia has been embroiled in clan warfare that has killed hundreds of thousand people and displaced millions of others. — Sapa-AFP