| 19 May 2007 04:20 SOMALIA WATCH |
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DAWLADDA PUNTLAND EE SOOMAALIYA PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIAXAFIISKA MADAXWEYNAHA OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENTGarowe,
April 26, 2001 MW/DPS/PRESS-023/2001
PRESS
STATEMENT The
Administration of Mohamed Ibrahim Egal plans to hold an unwise and
provocative referendum in the Puntland State regions of Sool, Sanaag
and District of Buhoodle towards the end of May 2001. These regions
are outside the jurisdiction of Egal’s Administration as they are
part and parcel of Puntland State of Somalia. The
Council of Ministers of the State Government of Puntland in a Special
Meeting on the matter on April 25, 2001 considered this move on the
part of Egal’s Administration as a recipe for disaster as his
unilateral decision will lead to a renewed violence and
destabilization in the Recovery Zones of Somalia (Puntland and
Somaliland). If Eagal’s Administration tries to implement this
politically motivated and unrealistic referendum, the expected ensuing
violence will be the most unfortunate development in the only parts of
Somalia that had succeeded in restoring peace and stability in a
country torn apart by a vicious civil war. For
background information, the Egal’s claim on the Puntland State
regions of Sool, Sanaag and the District of Buhoodle is based on a
colonial legacy that had been legally removed by the formation of the
Somali Republic in 1960 and in particular, by the Act of Union of the
Italian and British colonies in the same year. Historically,
clan boundaries existed long before European colonial administrations
and remained intact after independence and eventual union of the
Southern and Northern Somalia. Following the civil war, major clans of
Somalia (Darood, Issak, Hawie, Digil and Mirifle) moved back within
the limits of their respective clan boundaries for self-defense. Egal
Aministration’s claim on Hart/Darood territories is, therefore, an
unprovoked provocation and act of aggression against not only the
inhabitants of Sool, Sanaag and the District of Buhoodle, but also the
territorial integrity of the State of Puntland. It is also a gross
violation of civic and human rights of the people of Sool, Sanaag and
Buhoodle District by the regional Administration of Mohamed Ibrahim
Egal. Puntland State of Somalia therefore sees this provocative Egal’s intention to a hold nominal referendum as a naked interference in the internal affairs of the State of Puntland, a cause for alarm and this State’s right for self-defense. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed State President of Puntland
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