Somaliland and Puntland in War, as Moderate Leader rises in Somali South

Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
September 21, 2007

As unity seems to emerge out of the Asmara meeting of hundreds of Somali delegates, vowed to keep infamous ‘Ethiopia’ out of Somalia, war erupts in other parts of the multi-divided Somalia. A tit-for-tat, good and bad news follow one another in a precipitating rhythm.
Somalia has been de facto divided into three parts; Somaliland seceded proclaiming independence in 1991 in the North to control the former British Somali colonial territory.

With the center of the Somali civil war converging to the South, Somalia’s North-Eastern and Central part declared autonomy in 1998 under the name of Puntland that underscores 3500 years of Somali History, notably due to the extensive passages of Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s Expedition to Punt (1480 BCE). Ever since then, people thought that civil strife would be hopefully limited in Somalia’s southern part only. Unfortunately, this proved to be wrong.

Quite unfortunately, due to the nefarious ‘Ethiopian’ interference, successive divisions, strives and discords have occurred over the past few years. Rancorous racists, the Abyssinian tyrants of ‘Ethiopia’ want to maintain Somalia divided, as they consider this great historical country as their enemy no 1.

Reminiscent of the unforgettable Abyssinian defeat and humiliation at the hands of the Great Somali King Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim, the Abyssinians, under monarchical, communist or bogus-federal/pseudo-republican regimes, have been incessantly revengeful and hateful in their attitude and policy towards Somalia; even today, fake ‘Ethiopia’ occupies a vast part of Somali territory, namely the tyrannized province of Ogaden where almost 5 million Somali face on daily basis multifaceted excruciating and intolerant oppression practices.

The different national aspirations led to the magnification of the most secondary and insignificant divergences. Somaliland regime sought to get international recognition without any success. Contrarily, Puntland rulers decided to wait until the civil strife ends in the Somali South in order to merge again into one and united Somalia.

Tribal and territorial differences have been added, and repeatedly rekindled by the catastrophic and malignant ‘Ethiopian’ pseudo-diplomats. Thus, Somaliland’s harbour Berbera became almost an ‘Ethiopian’ port, helping the landlocked country to avoid the relatively high Djibouti port tolls.

The territorial disputes evolve around a strip of land between Somaliland’s Erigavo and Puntland’s Bossasso (Bandar Kassim) which stretches from the ‘Ethiopian’ border’s Easternmost corner to the Gulf of Aden. This territory is inhabited by the Somali tribes Sool (inland) and Sanaag (on the seaside). The territorial conflict is not due to disputes for natural resources, strategic locations and historical claims. It is all due to the nefarious ‘Ethiopian’ infiltration that the UN, major powers, Human Rights activists and NGOs must finally decide to contravene and eradicate. Quite indicatively, part of the disputed territory, mostly the Sanaag tribe territory, self-declared independence as another state under the name Maakhir just a few months ago (1 July 2007).

The hostilities that took place over the past 48 hours targeted Las Anod, capital of Sool, at a distance of few kilometers from the ‘Ethiopian’ border. As the town belongs to Puntland, Somaliland had gathered military forces at a close distance.

Source: American Chronicle