Somaliland warns getting impatient with hypocrisy over recognition

[Jacaylbaro]

hadhwanaag 2007-07-15 (Hadhwanaagnews) By Samson Haileyesus

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- Fresh from attending the 9th AU summit in Accra, Ghana Abdillahi Duale, Somaliland’s foreign minister in an exclusive interview with Sub Saharan Informer slammed the African union and member states in their reluctance towards granting recognition to the sixteen- year- old Horn of African country.

 

The reluctance of the African Union and African states has kept us [somaliland] hostage to a ghost state for 16 years … we have a legal right and Africa has a moral duty to grant us recognition,” said Duale commenting on the continued links being made between Somaliland’s recognition and the situation in Somalia.

 

“The time for good deeds is over now, I will go back to Hargeisa and meet with the council of ministers and the president and propose a review of policies in regards to our going through the process of diplomacy and regional security,” said Duale.

 

It was during the 9th ordinary AU summit held in Accra that on a proposal to discuss the recognition of Somaliland that the Kenyan delegation requested reconciliation with Southern Somalia rather than recognition derailing a possible AU decision on the recognition of Somalia. To this incident, Foreign Minister Duale responded by asking how long would Somaliland wait and experience a series of reconciliation processes that to date have not yielded anything.

 

“We have been hearing the same statements for years. How long should we wait for reconciliation?” asked Duale.

During the 9th AU Summit, the foreign minister of Rwanda asked the ministerial council of African foreign ministers for a discussion on the issue of Somaliland’s recognition and was supported by the foreign minister of Congo that was followed by a briefing by the Commissioner for Peace and Security who referred to the earlier OAU/AU decisions on Somalia that provided the basis for the AU to facilitate negotiations through IGAD, for ending the conflict in Somalia. The commissioner also stated that during the Somali National Reconciliation Conference, the state of Puntland had participated in the conference while Somaliland did not as it had declared its independence from Somalia. The commissioner also made mention of a fact finding led by the deputy chairperson of the AU to Somaliland and the subsequent report made to the AU. The representative of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia took to the floor to state that Somalia was an independent and sovereign state and therefore that status in conformity with AU principles and UN Security Council resolutions on the unity and territorial integrity of Somalia should be respected.

 

Later the Executive chairman concluded the discussion as follows, “there is a reality in Somaliland that cannot be ignored. It is known that there is Puntland and Somaliland. We cannot afford to close our eyes or shy away from that reality. It is in the interest of Africa to pay attention to these issues. These were positive developments in Somaliland including the restoration of stability and peace, the establishment of democratic institutions and processes and the efforts deployed internally towards reconstruction. Some of the achievements in Somaliland should inspire the rest of Somalia. This is an issue that is now known to the AU policy organs and it should be discussed at an appropriate time”.

 

 

Source: The Sub-Saharan Informer