Southern Warlords Resurrect The 1960 Union
| Front Page |
Hargeisa, July 10, 2004 (SL Times) – Somaliland President Dahir
Rayale Kahin reiterated on Tuesday that his country will not be bound
by any outcome of the on-going Somalia peace talks in Kenya that
interferes with Somaliland’s independence.
President Rayale appealed to the international community not to lend
support to what he termed as the quest by southern warlords for the
resurrection of the 1960 Union between Somaliland and Somalia.
Instead, Mr. Rayale proposed a two state solution according to which
both Somaliland and Somalia would be recognized as two separate
sovereign countries.
President Rayale’s comments came in a press statement released on
Tuesday. A full text of the press release is as follows:
“Of late, different segments of the Somaliland society, the political
parties, the traditional leaders and the people at large, have shown
concern of varying degrees, with regard to the outcome of the IGAD
sponsored Somali Peace and Reconciliation Conference, currently being
held at Embagathi, Nairobi.
Somaliland has been successful in establishing peace, security and
political democratization. Nevertheless the international community,
has all along been on parallel footing, busy holding peace and
reconciliation conferences, for the Somalis, in neighboring
countries, with the sole aim and intention of forming a central
government for the defunct Somali Republic. All these conferences
held for the warlords and their followers, had the same fate. They
ended in failure.
Though invited by the international community, Somaliland has always
refused to participate in those peace and reconciliation conferences,
held for the warring factions in the South or Somalia.
We have always enunciated our position to the international
Community: "That Somaliland has re-proclaimed its sovereignty and
independence, at the Burao Grand Conference, held in 18 May 1991.
Through this grand conference, Somaliland withdrew from the 1960
union with Somalia (former Italian Somalia), a union that has always
been a failure.
The government of Somaliland, noted with satisfaction, numerous
pronouncements from the international community, stating the current
conference being held in Kenya, is solely to reconcile the southern
warring factions to be followed by the formation of a government for
Somalia, that would then enter into dialogue with the government of
Somaliland.
This stand taken by the international community came through
strenuous and unremitting diplomatic efforts by Somaliland's government to
convince IGAD, AU, UN, EU and the United States; that Somaliland and
Somalia are two separate states, with internationally recognized
boundaries, inherited form their British and Italian Colonial
administrations.
Somaliland’s independence is based on its right to
self-determination, as enshrined in the AU and the United Nations
Charter. The independence of Somaliland, was subsequently endorsed by
its own people, through the referendum on the constitution, in which
97 % of the voters, voted YES for independence and the new
constitution. International observers from Europe, the United States,
and South Africa, have termed the referendum, fair and free.
We appeal to IGAD, AU, EU and the UN and the international Community
at large, to refrain from extending any support to the warring
factions attending the conference, in their quest to resurrect the
former defunct union, which is beyond resurrection. The Union died a
natural death in May 991.
The international community is to be fore-warned, that any attempt to
resurrect the former Somali Union, would only trigger a new cycle of
armed confrontation and civil war, that would engulf the entire Horn
of Africa region.
The government and people of Somaliland believe that the outcome and
resolution of this conference should be that we are two separate
states, Somaliland and Somalia, that would live in peace and in good
neighborliness with each other and with the other states in the
region.
IGAD member states and the international community would bear full
responsibility for any outcome, different from the separate two
states solution, which might lead to future strife and conflict that
could hurriedly turn into uncontrollable calamities.
Finally, Somaliland would only have dialogue with Somalia, when they
put in place, a president and government elected by the people of
Somalia. We would not enter into any dialogue, with re-cycled
warlords and the likes of the TNG president that do not enjoy the
goodwill, support and mandate of their own people.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives