If the port at Bol'Ado is rehabilitated, then business at Berbera will decrease greatly...More

First, we would like to make the following statements:

Awdal Roads Company is a completely separate entity from the Principality of Freedonia.

Jim Davidson and Michael VanNotten were not the authors of the material formerly located here. A recent trip to Awdal by Jim Davidson and Michael VanNotten, of Awdal Roads Co., ended up involving Freedonia in a negative way.

Some violence resulted, and many things in Awdal have been called into question. Recently, Prince John sent out a letter to all Freedonian citizens detailing what occured.

This letter appears below, although it has been significantly edited for public disclosure.

Freedonian citizens, In December, Jim Davidson and Michael Van Notten of Awdal Roads Co. traveled to Awdal. While they went solely on Awdal Roads Co. business and not on the behalf of Freedonia, it was our hope that Mr. Davidson could give us an overview of the current environment in Awdal, including attitudes towards foreign investment.

On December 23rd, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten arrived in Borama, the capital of Awdal.

Once there, they sought to secure transportation in order to travel throughout Awdal. In Borama, they met a man by the name of Haj Nur who happened to be in charge of the local operations of the Red Crescent Society, an Islamic organization similar to the Red Cross.

Haj Nur insisted that Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten meet with the Somaliland Vice President. Awdal's relationship to Somaliland is in debate. According to the Somaliland government, Awdal is a province of Somaliland.

According to the people of Awdal, however, they alone have a say about their affairs. As far back as 1995 they sent a letter to the UN declaring independence.

From what we know, Somaliland does collect some taxes in Awdal by force, although these are pocketed in Hargeisa, the seat of Somaliland government. According to our sources, Awdal receives no government services from Somaliland.

Given the premise of Awdal's independence, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten were reluctant to to travel to Hargeisa and meet with the Vice President. However, Haj Nur made promises that when they returned, they could use the Red Crescent vehicle to travel throughout Awdal.

Given the proposition, they decided to meet with the Somaliland Vice President on December 24th.

The meeting was cordial, and Mr. Davidson informed the Vice President about the various projects Awdal Roads company wants to undertake. One of these projects is the development of the port at Bol'Ado, a small town on the coast of Awdal.

The Vice President commented several times that it would be much better to develop the port at Berbera, a coastal town of Somaliland. While the meeting was friendly, there appeared to be an ulterior motive.

The Somaliland government currently receives no taxes from the port at Bol'Ado, due to local resistance.

If the port at Bol'Ado is rehabilitated, then business at Berbera will decrease greatly, thereby cutting off a source of income for members of the Somaliland government.

On the 25th of December Mr. Davidson returned to Borama, while Mr. Van Notten stayed in Hargeisa.

When Mr. Davidson arrived, he then went to Haj Nur to secure the Red Crescent vehicle and be on his way.

However, Haj Nur would not provide the transportation, despite his earlier promise. It seems that Haj Nur's purpose in sending Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten to meet with the Vice President was to ascertain if Awdal Roads' projects pass with Hargeisa, and if not, to kill the project.

On December 29th, Sultan Ibrahim Jama Samatar, and other elders, finally met with Mr. Davidson in Borama.

They had been wondering where he was, and were very pleased to see him.

They were surprised that he had gone to Hargeisa, as they reaffirmed that Somaliland has no authority over Awdal affairs. Mr. Davidson, Sultan Ibrahim, and others then made their way to the coastal town of Lughaya.

The people there were very welcoming and happy to hear of Awdal Roads Co. and foreign investment. They then made their way up the coast, stopping in Bol'Ado and the town of Zeila.

All over Awdal the people seemed to be pleased at the prospect of foreign investment and development.

Then on approximately the 2nd or 3rd of January, a fax was sent from a Somali man living in Toronto, Canada. The fax claimed to contain two pages of material from the Freedonian website.

The information in the fax claimed that Awdal Roads Co. was a part of Freedonia (absolutely false), and that Awdal Roads Co. is part of a conspiracy by foreigners to steal Awdal's land and oppress the people (ridiculously false).

The fax also falsely implicated Sultan Ibrahim, claiming he had already reached an agreement with Freedonia to give away the entire Awdal Coast. What apparently happened is that the person in Toronto had taken information from our website and rewrote much of the material, and added in new material he wrote himself.

He then faxed these pages to Hargeisa. This fax was then used by the Somaliland government to try and anger and frighten people in Awdal. Word spread, and Freedonia became a topic of much discussion and confusion throughout Awdal. Mr. Davidson rightfully asserted that Awdal Roads Co. is not associated with Freedonia in any way.

Sultan Ibrahim also rightfully denied that he had reached any sort of agreement with us. In essence, Freedonia was being used as an excuse to close down the Awdal Roads project and protect the corrupt interests of the Somaliland government.

On January 7th, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Van Notten received a message stating they should meet with the Somaliland Foreign Minister. They traveled to Hargeisa for the meeting, and the Foreign Minister proceeded to declare that their visas were not valid and they were in Somaliland illegally. Luckily, Sultan Ibrahim and the elders had been traveling about 1/2 hour behind them, and showed up at the meeting.

There was then a heated exchange; with the elders affirming that Somaliland has no authority in Awdal. They eventually got the Foreign Minister to agree to this, and thinking it was resolved, they departed.

Mr. Davdison and Mr. Van Notten then wanted to leave for the airport, but the Foreign Minister declared that they must meet with the Vice President again.

They went to this meeting, where the Vice President brought up the contents of an Awdal Roads information packet he received at their last meeting. He disagreed with much of the information it contained, and especially called attention to two pages in the packet. These pages were from the afore mentioned fax.

These pages had been inserted into the Awdal Roads packet after the fact, and the Vice President now claimed they were there all along. He proceeded to interrogate Mr. Davidson on these two pages involving Freedonia. In short, Mr. Davidson accused him of lying, and in the end the Vice President threatened to execute him if he ever returns to Awdal or Somaliland.

The Vice President told Mr. Davdison and Van Notten that they must leave the country immediately. They made it to the airport, where their passports were stamped "Deported" as they left. Upon hearing of this, the people of Awdal were outraged.

They were upset that potential foreign investors were threatened and forced to leave. A short time later, the Vice President was passing through Borama on his way back to Hargeisa. The local people were so angry that they formed into crowds and heckled, while some stoned the Vice President's motorcade.

The motorcade stopped, and members of the Somaliland army shot into the crowd. Many people were seriously injured, and the number of dead ranges from 1-4, depending on the source.

The Vice President's motorcade continued on, but met a roadblock in the next town. The Vice President then had to be rescued by a helicopter from the Somaliland Airforce.

Later, we are told, Somaliland sent military vehicles into Awdal and captured six people supposedly related to the incident.

This situation arose due in part to the fact that detailed information about Awdal was available to the general public on the Freedonian Website.

In the future, details of our search to purchase territory will be kept more confidential, and will not be made available to the public.

The Principality of Freedonia will be undertaking some actions regarding these events, although for security reasons I can not divulge information at this time.

Archived News
Source: Freedonian - by Elmi S.