Somaliland Ministers on UAE Relations Enhancement Visit

Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr. Mohamed Abdillahi Omar and Somaliland Minister of Presidency, Mr. Hersi Ali Hagi Hassan

Press Statement: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

DUBAI  – The Republic of Somaliland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr. Mohamed Abdillahi Omar, accompanied by the Minister of Presidency, Mr. Hersi Ali Hagi Hassan, arrived in Dubai yesterday evening as part of a diplomatic visit meant to deepen Somaliland’s long-standing economic and security partnership with the United Arab Emirates.

While in Dubai, Foreign Minister Omar will meet with representatives from the government and private sector, including State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, and intermediaries from the maritime terminal operating and developing company DP World.

The UAE and Somaliland have developed close cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, the fight against piracy and regional affairs. In June 2012, the UAE government showed its commitment to peace and stability in the Horn of Africa by bringing together the presidents of Somaliland and Somalia to ratify a framework for bilateral dialogue meant to clarify future relations between the two countries.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Republic of Somaliland.

“The Government of Somaliland congratulates its people on successful local elections” Press Release

“The Government of Somaliland congratulates its people on successful local elections” Press Release

The Government of the Republic of Somaliland welcomes the outcome of Somaliland’s November 28th local elections, our latest in a series of several presidential, parliamentary and local elections stretching back to 2002.

Following a successful period of peaceful campaigning and voting in which the country’s hard-won 21 years of stability was maintained, the election results have finally been tabulated and verified. We would like to congratulate all the local counselors, mayors and governors on their successes, while also commending those who have lost for respecting the results and maintaining the dignity of the country’s democratic process. We echo the praise of the international election observers of our people’s sincere commitment to democracy.

The government and the people of Somaliland would like to thank international donors, implementing organisations and election observers for again showing their commitment to assisting our country’s consolidation of democracy. Such financial and technical support was crucial to the peaceful and smooth completion of the elections, and we hope such support will only continue in advance of Somaliland’s upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

Our democratic path continues to stand out as a shining example of the democratic potential inherent to the peoples of the Horn of Africa and the continent as a whole, and we have seen encouraging progress in many areas, such as the increased participation of youth and women as voters and candidates and the use of the judicial system to resolve electoral disputes. But as democratic practices become further institutionalized, new challenges will unavoidably arise, and our people must be brave and spirited enough to learn from those challenges.

We therefore take heed and are prepared to address the recommendations of the international election observers to put in place a robust and effective voter/citizen registration system to guarantee the integrity of each and every vote. Our government institutions and civil society organisations are already exploring ways to make this a reality. We call on the international community to support these efforts.

With each passing election, Somaliland’s commitment to stability, peace, democracy and the fight against extremism becomes more evident. Underpinning this commitment is the Somaliland people’s belief that to compromise these values would be to not only undermine the country’s potential for development and growth, but also create a setback in the efforts of neighboring countries and the international community in reestablishing peace throughout the Horn of Africa.

Press Office Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

 

International companies to begin oil exploration in Somaliland

Hargeisa-Genel Energy and other international firms are moving ahead with plans to explore for oil in Somaliland, a development that officials hope will lead to prosperity and job creation in the region.

In early December, Genel Energy will start taking aerial pictures of Somaliland’s Togdheer region to look for oil deposits, according to Somaliland’s Minister of Mining, Energy and Water Resources Hussein Abdi Duale.

“The aerial search will be followed by oil exploration work, which will start in the beginning of 2013,” Duale said October 3rd as he welcomed a delegation from Genel Energy, which is headquartered in Turkey.

The company will use seismic vibrators to explore for oil and will then drill wells, he said. “This will be the first time oil is drilled in the country in 20 years.”

Duale said Genel Energy reached a working arrangement with Britain-based oil company Asante Oil, which had an initial agreement with the ministry to search for oil.

“Genel Energy’s role in this work will be 70%, and we are happy they will start this work in Somaliland. We hope that oil will be discovered in our country so we can prosper,” he said.

The delegation visited Burao, capital of the Togdheer region, on October 4th to assess the security situation for Genel Energy’s future office there.

Australia-based oil company Jacka Resources, Ltd. will also work with Petrosoma, Ltd., based in the United Kingdom, to begin aerial exploration at the end of October and will photograph 10,000 square miles, said Petrosoma’s information officer in Hargeisa Mohamed Elmi Abdalle.

Abdalle said they will transition to ground exploration in January, with the initial phase of the project costing $10 million.

Said Mohamed Elmi, chairman of the parliamentary sub-committee on environment and natural resources, said that a bill on Somaliland oil exploration will be presented to parliament in December.

The Ministry of Mining, Energy and Water Resources has reached agreements in the past few years with four other foreign companies that work in the mineral and oil sectors, Elmi said.

Opportunities for job creation

Abdirahman Aden Aar, an economics professor at Hargeisa’s Civil Service Institute, said he hopes oil production will help reduce Somaliland’s unemployment rate.

“It will enhance the country’s economy and will create jobs for unemployed youth,” he said. “This will in turn enhance the living conditions of society.”

“Not many people are educated in oil matters in the country now, so production will result in bringing in foreign experts from whom the few local skilled workers will be able to learn from,” Aar said.

About 1,700 young people recently graduated from national and private universities and are now looking for work, Aar said. “There is an imbalance each year in the number of work opportunities and those seeking work,” he said. “So [oil exploration] can be an opportunity for job creation.”

Mass Graves exhumations begin in Somaliland by a Peruvian forensic anthropology team (EPAF)

Mass Graves exhumations begin in Somaliland by a Peruvian forensic anthropology team (EPAF)

A Peruvian forensic anthropology team has started on a project that is expected to reveal details of the widespread atrocities that were committed under the rule of dictator Siyad Barre against the people of Somaliland.

Truth behind enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, torture and other human rights violations of Somalilanders is about to be unearthed.

The Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team – EPAF, has begun exhumations in in the country, as part of a five-year agreement signed with the government thus unearth the truth behind an estimated 60,000 civilian deaths and hundreds of victims of enforced disappearances from 1970 to 1991.

The EPAF team which will also training local forensic personnel and college students of biomedical sciences in order to avail of the country relevant forensic expertise.

The exhumations result from the enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, torture and other human rights violations perpetrated during the reign of dictator Siyad Barre whose underlings are credited with the over 60,000 deaths and hundreds of unexplained disappearances

One of the main perpetrators in this case is General Mohamed Ali Samatar, who was Vice President and Defense Minister of the Democratic Republic of Somalia from 1980 to 1986. In January 1987, Samatar took over as Prime Minister of Somalia, until the fall of Barre dictatorship in 1990.

During the cause of its duties, the Jose Pablo’s led EPAF team that also includes a number of international journalists is assisted by Mr. Abdiaziz Mohamed Diriye who was part of the team that brought Gen Ali Samatar to justice in the USA where he was found guilty of committing atrocities against Somalilanders and fine $21 Million.

While informing that most of the mass graves documented has a minimum of 12 corpses the national massacre investigations committee, which is supporting the EPAF, work, gave the following breakdown of mass graves so far identified:-

I. Hargeisa (Maroodi-Jeeh region) – 200 mass graves

II. Berbera (Sahil region) – 12 mass graves

III. Burao (Togdheer region) – 8 mass graves

IV. Sheikh (Sahil region) – 1 mass grave

V. Erigavo (Sanaag region) – 2 mass graves

VI. Arabsiyo (Gabile region) – 1 mass grave

The Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) is a non-profit organization that promotes the right to truth, justice, and guarantees of non-repetition in cases of forced disappearance and extrajudicial execution. EPAF seeks to contribute to the consolidation of peace and democracy where grave human rights violations have taken place by working alongside the families of the disappeared to find their loved ones, gain access to justice, and improve the conditions affecting their political and economic development.

To achieve these goals, EPAF works in four principal areas: Forensic Investigation, Historical Memory, Forensic Training, and Human Development.

 Peruvian Forensic Anthropology (EPAF): http://epafperu.org/epaf-inicia-exhumaciones-en-somalilandia/

Somaliland chief remembers start of Queen’s reign

Somaliland’s chief of chiefs Haji Abdi Hussein Yusuf sends Somaliland House of Elders’ congratulations and felicitations to the Queen

Somaliland’s chief of chiefs became a tribal leader 12 years before Queen Elizabeth II assumed the throne and he has clear memories of the day she was crowned.

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II 2 June 1953

My name is Haji Abdi Hussein Yusuf also known as Haji Warabe. I am 115 years old. I don’t know the exact year I was born, and I cannot read or write, but I know for sure that I am that age.

I remember the Queen’s coronation extremely well. In fact, I remember the coronation of her father King George VI [in 1937]. My uncle attended the ceremony in London.

During the coronation of Queen Elizabeth there was a huge celebration in Hargeisa. The whole town was practically shut down and lots of congratulatory telegrams were sent.

I still remember that wonderful day. I have been to London twice but unfortunately I didn’t meet the Queen on either occasion.

I first became a chief when Somaliland was a British protectorate. I worked closely with the British colonial officials, and was selected by them as the chief of chiefs. I worked very well with them for 20 years until independence in 1960.

George VI’s and Elizabeth II’s coronations were days of celebration

I liked the British a lot, mainly because they brought peace to our land. When they first arrived, the clans were at each other’s throats. We were killing and fighting each other, and the British put a stop to it.

To be honest, things didn’t change much for me after independence. My chiefly powers stayed pretty much the same, as both the British and the Somali politicians wanted the same thing from me – advice.

I was born outside Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, in the area where the airport now is. At the time it wasn’t a town at all – it was wilderness.

I have been a nomad since the day I was born and I have been a chief for more than 70 years, since 1940 to be precise.

I am now the chief of chiefs, the elder of elders. The most senior traditional leader in the whole of Somaliland. My nickname is Warabe which means hyena.

Nomadic life

When I was four years old, I started looking after baby sheep and goats. When I was a bit older, my job was to herd young camels into their pens. Then I graduated to herding the mature camels, the most magnificent of all Somali beasts.

Somaliland: Self-declared republic

• Formal British control after being taken from Egypt 1884
• Re-united with Italian Somaliland to form Somalia 1960
• Declares independence after overthrow of dictator Siad Barre 1991
• Not recognised internationally
• Referendum backs independence 2001

Even though I am now too old to actively herd my livestock, I still consider myself first and foremost a nomad, and I visit my herds whenever I can.

Nomadic life has changed dramatically over the decades. It used to be just us, our animals and the wilderness.

Now villages, roads and vehicles get in the way of everything. People are ruining the environment by cutting down all the trees for charcoal.

I will never retire as elder of the elders. I want to continue for as long as I can – for as long as my brain functions properly. People continue to respect me and I respect them.

Please will you pass our felicitations, congratulations and heartfelt blessings to her majesty, in particular from the House of Elders here in Somaliland.

Haji Abdi Hussein Yusuf was interviewed by BBC Somalia analyst Mary Harper. It aired on BBC World Service’s Newshour programme as part of series marking Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. The series from 26 May to 1 June featured seven people from across the world who are over 60 and still working in their professions.

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18150302

Somaliland Did Not Surrender Sovereignty By Attending the London Conference

By Mohamed A. Omar, 16 March 2012

Mohamed A. Omar Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the Republic of Somaliland.

analysis

Somaliland is re-engaging with international diplomacy related to its neighbour, Somalia. Our country has received widespread praise for its contribution to the recent London Conference. This event represented an important milestone in Somaliland’s diplomacy.

We participated in the conference as an equal, and we laid out our views about how Somaliland can help build peace and stability in Somalia. We are very grateful to the British Government for convening the conference and for inviting us.

It was the first time that Somaliland had ever taken part in an international conference dealing with the future of Somalia. Prior to the conference, some of our people had expressed reservations about Somaliland’s participation, because they were afraid that our Government’s presence in London could be misinterpreted by our international partners as endorsing an eventual return to unity with Somalia.

I believe that our government decisively addressed this issue in our statement to the conference, in which we underlined our view that our declaration of independence in 1991 is definitive. Had we not attended, we would have missed an opportunity to share this view with 55 delegations, represented at very high level.

Given these sensitivities, President Silanyo consulted widely with Somaliland’s political and civil society leaders before deciding to accept the invitation to the Conference. It was important that there be a strong mandate from Somaliland’s two legislative bodies, the Council of Elders and the House of Representatives. In fact, these two bodies had to change our law in order for President Silanyo to attend. This process illustrates Somaliland’s democratic credentials and our culture of consultation. The overwhelming backing for participation in the conference is a mark of our people’s political maturity.

The conference also provided us an opportunity to lay out our ideas about how to bring peace and stability to Somalia. We believe that attempts to find a solution to the problem of Somalia based on the de jure boundaries of the state risk undermining the very stability which the international community is seeking. Furthermore, focusing energy on the re-creation of a centralized state through a top-down approach ignores the realities on the ground, and the decentralized nature of Somali politics.

Somaliland offers a useful example in this regard, as several countries noted at the Conference. Somaliland built peace and democracy through an indigenous bottom-up approach, drawing on traditional conflict resolution methods. We believe that a similar approach is needed in Somalia, and we have offered to share our experience with our brothers and sisters in that country. We would of course be in an even stronger position to contribute to a stable and peaceful Somalia if we were recognised internationally.

The Final Communiqué issued from the Conference also recognised the need for the international community “to support any dialogue that Somaliland and the TFG or its replacement may agree to establish in order to clarify their future relations.” We believe that this clearly supports our vision of a dialogue between two separate entities, which treat each other as equals. It will, I hope, mark a starting point for constructive discussions about our relationship with Somalia, including an acceptance by the authorities in Mogadishu that our voluntary union failed long ago, and that the future stability of the region is best served by accepting Somaliland’s independence.

A number of bilateral meetings between President Silanyo and Ministers from other countries took place in the margins of the conference, all of which were conducted in a spirit of mutual respect and equality. These bilateral talks provided us with the opportunity to discuss concrete ways in which Somaliland can cooperate with other governments to our mutual advantage.

While in London, President Silanyo also attended the launch of the Somaliland Development Corporation at the British Houses of Parliament. The Corporation will facilitate international investment in Somaliland for the benefit of the Somaliland people, circumventing the present problem of non-recognition by providing a transparent, accountable and enforceable means by which international investors can participate in Somaliland ventures. Somaliland was honoured that Minister Henry Bellingham attended the event. The launch was also well-attended by members of Parliament from all major political parties in the UK.

All of this demonstrates that we did not surrender our sovereignty by attending the London Conference. On the contrary, we asserted and reaffirmed our status as a sovereign and responsible regional partner, and in the process garnered significant diplomatic, economic and political support. We will build on this so as to promote further the interests of our people.

Mohamed A. Omar is Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the Republic of Somaliland.

Africanarguments.org:  http://africanarguments.org/2012/03/16/somaliland-did-not-surrender-sovereignty-by-attending-the-london-conference-%E2%80%93-by-mohamed-a-omar-foreign-minister-somaliland/

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Strengthening the UK’s relationship with Somaliland

Somaliland President Ahmed Silanyo with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague

Foreign Secretary William Hague met President Silanyo of Somaliland on 22 February, the eve of the London Conference on Somalia.

UK foreign office -The Foreign Secretary and President Silanyo reaffirmed the close ties between the UK and Somaliland. They agreed that Somaliland was making progress in further embedding democracy and discussed issues of mutual interest, including cooperation on trade and to counter piracy. Over the next three years, the UK will provide up to £105 million in development support to Somaliland to promote prosperity, tackle poverty and consolidate progress on stability and democracy.

Speaking after their meeting, the Foreign Secretary said:

“I am delighted to see President Silanyo in London for the Conference on Somalia. Somaliland has valuable lessons to share from its own experience of building stability and democracy. I welcome President Silanyo’s participation at the Conference and am grateful for Somaliland’s continued co-operation in the fight against piracy and terrorism.”

Source: UK foreign office : http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=733871182