KOFI ANAN'S BRITISH ADVISOR NO LONGER
WELCOME IN SOMALILAND
Source : The Republican Issue No. 109 Vol 2
Saturday March 11, 2000
Hargeisa (Rep) - Somaliland's member 2 legislature Mr. Abdulqadir Ismail Jirde
accused Wednesday Mr. David Steven, the British-born advisor for Kofi Anan on
Somali affairs, of misleading the international community about the
political realities in the region. Mr. Jirde who was among the key-note
speakers in a popular rally held at Khayria square in Hargeisa city to mark the
8th March international day for women warned Somalilanders against the
dangerous implications that Mr. Ismail Omer Gelleh's conference might have for
the stability and political future of their country. Jirde who is Somaliland
parliament's first deputy Speaker, said Mr. David Steven was the man
responsible for ill-advising UN Secretary General Kofi Anan to claim in August
1999 that President Egal has softened his stand on the independence of
Somaliland. Mr. David who arrived Wednesday in Hargeisa was snubbed President
Egal who refused to meet the UN diplomat, apparently because of
Somaliland statements attributed recently to the latter. Mr. David declined to
be interviewed by the The Republican. He had however a launch meeting
with Foreign Minister Fagadhe in Mansoor Hotel before returning to Djibouti in
the same day. According to sources close to the government, Mr. Steven
has been informed that he will no longer be welcome in Somaliland.
In the meanwhile UN agencies which planned to move their offices from
Nairobi to Hargeisa by last month have decided tgo shelve the idea in the face
of pressure by the Djibouti government which believes that the relocation might
harm politically President Gelleh's efforts to hold a reconciliation conference
on Somalia next April. Encouraged by Hargeisa's peaceful climate and cheaper
living standards, the UN agencies such as the UNDP wanted to establish their
main departments in the Somaliland capital city. A large percentage of
the assistance intended for Somaliland/Somalia is spent on overhead costs
incurred by the Nairobi offices of agencies managing the aid. In
the past, the staff of these international agencies had repeatedly resisted
demands by their local counterparts for a much more visible presence on ground
by international aid workers. Expatriates however allegedly resisted any
change to the present arrangement of operating from Nairobi because of the
possibility of losing same substantial cash benefits which they have so far
been drawing. With the arrival last year of a new UNDP Rep. Mr. Randolph
Kent, UN agencies have reportedly been discussing the idea of reducing their
presence in Nairobi in favor of establishing a stronger capacity in Somaliland.
END/ A.Samater--Toronto
