KAMPALA, Uganda
The leader of Somalia’s
semi-autonomous region of Somaliland has urged the international community to
recognize his territory’s quest for independence, saying negotiations with
Somalia had failed.
Muse Bihi Abdi charged that in
a decade of talks “Somalia has demonstrated a complete lack of interest in
meaningful dialogue,” forcing Somaliland to press ahead with its quest for
international recognition as an independent country.A woman and child relax next to a mural of Somaliland's flag, in Hargeisa, Somaliland, a semi-autonomous breakaway region of Somalia, on Feb. 9, 2022.
“Dialogue has failed to
achieve its objectives,” he said on Monday in Washington at an event hosted by
the Heritage Foundation, the conservative policy think tank.
Kevin Roberts, president of
the Heritage Foundation, said he believes the “U.S. and Somaliland should be
strong partners.” In a region beset by violence and the threat of extremists, a
relatively calm Somaliland offers the U.S. the possibility of “a truly
sustainable partnership” in the Horn of Africa, Roberts said.
“This territory, of its own
accord, has stuck with a democratic system and process for three decades. It
hasn’t been perfect, just like no democratic system is perfect,” he said. “But
the old saying is that character is how you behave when no one is watching.
Somaliland has stayed faithful to democracy when hardly anyone is noticing.”
Abdi, who has been
Somaliland’s president since 2017, said he was “pursuing all available avenues”
in asserting his territory’s autonomy from Somalia.
“The international community
has a moral obligation to support Somaliland’s pursuit of international
recognition,” he said.
Somaliland has no formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., and Abdi said he wants to see the U.S. joining some countries that maintain a diplomatic presence in Hargeisa, the capital.
Somaliland is strategically
located by the Gulf of Aden, and Abdi spoke of recent efforts by his government
to refurbish the port of Berbera in efforts to open up the region to global
trade.
Somaliland’s territory of more
than 3 million people broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country collapsed
into warlord-led conflict.
Despite lacking international
recognition, Somaliland has maintained its own independent government, currency
and security system. The region has largely succeeded in holding regular
elections over the years, including parliamentary polls held last year.
Somaliland’s relative
stability over the years has sharpened the sense of failure in Somalia, where
deadly attacks by Islamic extremists are frequently reported and elections have
been delayed because there is no agreement on how the vote should be carried
out.
Somalia still sees Somaliland
as part of its territory.
It remains unclear how the
Somali federal government will respond to Somaliland’s move to seek
international recognition as an independent country. Since 2012 several rounds
of talks over possible unification have failed to reach a breakthrough.
Abdi said in his speech Monday
that the war in Ukraine brought back painful memories of deadly military conflict
with Somalia.
“We feel the pain and anguish
that the people of Ukraine feel because we went through the same experience,”
he said.
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