SOMALILAND STATEMENT
SPELLS OUT REFUSAL TO JOIN DJIBOUTI PEACE TALKS
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom
; 29-Mar-2000 12:00:00 am
Text of report by Somaliland's Hargeysa radio on 28th March
The Somaliland government has issued a statement in response to the appeal and
resolutions reached by the Somali scholars meeting in Djibouti, inviting the Somaliland
people to participate in the forthcoming Djibouti reconciliation conference .
In response to the appeal of the Somali scholars meeting in Djibouti the Somaliland
government says the following [all dates as heard]:
1. Although Somaliland attained its independence from Britain in 1960, it was
preoccupied with the unification of the Somali people, Djibouti included. The Somali
people had forgotten this fact and the result was injustice inflicted on the people of
Somaliland and failure to achieve the unity of the Somali people.
2. The Somaliland people have been subjected to atrocities and dehumanizing treatment
in return for their endeavours to unite the Somali people. Efforts have been made to wipe
out the people of Somaliland but they have struggled hard against this injustice. They
have lost thousands of their people and spent immense resources to fight for their rights.
3. In 1991 representatives of all Somaliland clans met in Burco [northern Somalia] and
resolved to regain their independence. They formed a sovereign Somaliland state.This was
followed by two subsequent national meetings to decide the political destiny of
Somaliland. The two meetings were held in Boorama [northwestern Somaliland] in 1993 and
1996 respectively. This was also followed by a follow-up meeting in 1997 in Hargeysa to
consolidate the resolutions of the previous meetings and in the process the regained
sovereignty was firmly consolidated.
4. The Somaliland government appealed to its people to reclaim their lost glory by
reconstructing national institutions and promoting security and stability. The people of
Somaliland, in a very short time, have achieved substantial progress and development in
all spheres.
The Somaliland government has made its stand very clear from the beginning on the issue
of participating in any reconciliation conference whether it is the current Djibouti
conference or previous ones. Our stand is therefore very clear and there can be no retreat
under any circumstances.
In the light of all this, the Republic of Somaliland states that:
1. It will not attend the Djibouti meeting or any other meeting, because:
a. The Somaliland people have more urgent problems and priorities to attend to;
b. The major obstacle that is now facing southern Somalia is not the result of
Somaliland's secession and regaining of its sovereignty, but rather insecurity and lack of
trust among themselves, which needs to be addressed urgently;
c. Somaliland is not at war with its brothers in the south.
2. The Somaliland government has made it clear that when the problem of the south is
resolved and a national government is established it will have no objection to holding
dialogue, as two equal partners, on issues of common interest and to identify future areas
of cooperation.
3. It is worth referring to the IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development]
member countries' heads of states and governments resolutions from their 1997 meeting in
Nairobi, Kenya, which stipulated that all efforts should focus on reconciling the southern
factions and achieving peace in the south; while the Somaliland administration should
retain its current status pending the results of peace efforts in the south. The Djibouti
reconciliation conference, therefore, does not concern the people of Somaliland and is
specifically intended to reconcile the southern warring factions.
4. Whatever brings together and unites our brothers in the south we will support.
5. Finally, we would like to urge those concerned that the Djibouti conference should
not be deflected from its original course of reconciling the southern factions and
bringing to an end the ongoing bloodshed in the south. The secession of Somaliland should
not be an obstacle to saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the
south.
We would like to remind the Somali scholars currently in Djibouti that problems are
always addressed depending on their urgency and magnitude, and they should not get their
priorities wrong by insisting on the participation of Somaliland in the forthcoming
Djibouti conference.
Source: Radio Hargeysa, Voice of the Republic of Somaliland, in Somali 1700 gmt
28 Mar 00