Somalia’s Puntland, Somaliland Support U.S. Cooperation

[General Duke]

Somalia’s Puntland, Somaliland Support U.S. Cooperation

 

Garowe, Hargeisa, Somalia (AHN) - The semi-autonomous region of Somalia’s Puntland and the break-away republic of Somaliland support U.S. cooperation, authorities said Sunday.

 

Abdullahi Ahmed Jama’, the interior minister of the Puntland administration, said they were happy to support cooperation with the United States for aid and development aspects with their administration. Jama’ said Puntland had already called for the United States and the international community to support and help peaceful areas in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.

 

A press release issued by Puntland’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation said, “The government of Puntland appreciates this new and pragmatic approach which we think better reflects the current political reality in the country as well as how best the long lasting present quagmire can be ended. The TFG [Transitional Federal Government] has a glaring lack of capacity to fulfill its mandate by upholding the charter, fostering national reconciliation, embracing and encouraging the constitutional development process, and fighting and defeating violent extremist groups can no longer be ignored.”

Separately, the break-away republic of Somaliland welcomed the U.S. engagement policy in Somalia. Mohammed Abdullahi Omar, foreign affairs minister of Somaliland, signaled that Somaliland was interested in U.S. cooperation, particularly education, health, aid and development aspects.

“After [the] last free and fair democratic election which occurred in Somaliland, we were expecting from United States and [the] international community to take such step,” said Omar.

Friday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said U.S. officials were developing ties with both Puntland and Somaliland, both of which declared themselves independent in the early 1990s. "Both of these parts of Somalia have been zones of relative political and civil stability and we think they in fact will be a bulwark against extremism and radicalism that might emerge from the south," Carson told reporters.

Somaliland and Puntland have been the most stable areas in Somalia after the collapse of the country’s military government in 1991.

[General Duke]

Abdullahi Ahmed Jama’, the interior minister of the Puntland administration, said they were happy to support cooperation with the United States for aid and development aspects with their administration. Jama’ said Puntland had already called for the United States and the international community to support and help peaceful areas in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.

some won't like that quote.

[General Duke]

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