DAWLADDA PUNTLAND                                      PUNTLAND STATE OF

EE SOOMAALIYA                                   SOMALIA

 

XAFIISKA MADAXWEYNAHA                             OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

________________________________________________________________________

Garoowe, April 29, 2001

 

To:       The Secretary General of the United Nations

            New York

 

Cc:       The Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity

The Secretary General of the League of Arab States

The Secretary General of the IGAD

President of the Security Council of the United Nations

Members of the Security Council of the United Nations

 

Mr. Secretary General, 

Somalia has been in the throes of civil war chaos and suffering for most of the past decade. The international Community spared no effort to bring peace and tranquility to Somalia and the region as a whole; success if I may call it that has been achieved in Puntland and to a lesser degree in Somaliland. Relative success in "Somaliland" clouded by their declared policy of secession. The seeds of conflict and chaos are built in Somaliland's objectives of separation from the rest of Somalia. 

Today, Mr. secretary General, the administration of Somaliland brought our worst fears to the fore. "Somaliland" has announced a "referendum" for and against the vexed issue of secession. A fake, unilateral, unsupervised and unobserved referendum is planned at the end of May for the regions of Sool, Sanaag and the district of Buhoodle. I take this opportunity to warn the International Community against this rash, indeed irresponsible, declaration of intent which will lead to renewed conflict and suffering in the hitherto peaceful north of Somalia. The regions of Sool, Sanaag and the district of Buhoodle are an integral and inseparable part of the State of Puntland, Somalia.  

This statement of fact is primarily based on the declared wish of the people of these regions. Our position is based on history and the clan boundaries that preceded the European colonization of Somalia. The position of Puntland is not a baseless claim, in fact it is not a claim, it is an indisputable fact based on blood, irrevocable historical clan boundaries and reality on the ground today.  

Last but no means least, our position is based on international law. Egal bases his misguided "claim" on a colonial legacy that ceased to exist both politically and in international law when the act of union established Somalia in 1960 on the independence of the Italian and British colonies in the same year. In fact, Egal himself as chief Minister of the then British Somaliland signed that Act of Union. 

Following the civil war all major Somali clans (Darood, Isaq, Hawiye, Digil and Mirifle) withdrew back to the limits of their respective clan boundaries for self-defense and security. The Egal administration's claim on Harti/Darood territories is an open provocation that would lead to conflict, bloodletting and suffering. Mr. Secretary General, this warning is not meant to alarm the International Community; it is an appeal for sanity. The last thing Puntland needs is a re-ignited civil war. We do not have the inclination or the resource to wage war. However, if we must wage war, the people of Puntland will make the necessary sacrifices for self-defense. 

Mr. Secretary General, we officially request your excellency to take up the referendum issue with the Egal Administration and urge him to reconsider his potentially explosive "referendum" plans. By this act, you would save the "Recovery Zones of Somalia", Puntland and Somaliland, from conflict and suffering. 

Please accept the assurances of way highest consideration.

 

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed

State President of Puntland