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Dear Alethia, Yes the AU is alive and kicking. Could improve and would improve but like the EU and the UN its all we've got and must work with. Recognition of States and governments is the juncture between law and politics in public international law. I am sure that given sufficient time Somaliland may become recognised and perhaps it deserves to be. The problems however may still continue with possible irredentism from elsewhere. I think this is the time for the Somali land authorities to engage in the high-wire politics of getting at least a symbolic recognition from a few states one or two will do in the beginning. While no one is necessarily happy to see the break down of states I honestly don't see why they shouldn't get recognition from states given that Somalia has been a failed state now for far too long. The problem is that state breakup is anathema in nearly all political quarters in contemporary Africa and for good reasons nearly all the states are young and fragile. I'm sure non of us has the answers. Thats what makes it much more interesting to follow developments. Best Regards ----- Original Message ----- From: aletheia kallos <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 3:18 pm Subject: Re: [INT-BOUNDARIES] look gbenga africans appear to lead peace talks today To: [log in to unmask] > all surmises were right on > including the presence of washington at the djibouti talks on saturday > http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=9593&tirsan=10 > but not including the surprising presence of the entire african > union at the talks in addis ababa on sunday > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7794918.stm > or at least that part came as a surprise to me > not thinking addis ababa the capital of africa almost as much as > of ethiopia > doh > > > some powerful fresh blogs tho > > http://www.eaglespeak.us/2008/12/un-says-yemen-primary-supplier- > of.htmlhttp://armiesofliberation.com/archives/2008/12/20/yemen- > primary-supplier-of-weapons-to-somalia/ > > & in > > http://www.eastafricaforum.net/2008/12/22/interview-with- > republic-of-somaliland-foreign-minister/Interview with Republic > of Somaliland foreign minister > > Reporter, Ethiopia > There is no way that we will unite with Somalia in the future > Sunday, 21 December 2008 > Mr. Abdulahi Mohamed Duale is the foreign minister of > Somaliland. Mr. Duale had also served as finance minister. > > The foreign minister spoke to Getachew Nigatu about the current > situation in Somalia and Somaliland. Excerpts: > > How strong is the relationship between Ethiopia and Somaliland? > The relationship between Ethiopia and Somaliland in very much > strong, beyond what anyone expects. Our president, Mr. Kahin, > maintainsconstant contact with PM Meles Zenawi and discusses > bilateral issues. > I, too, work closely with my Ethiopian counterpart Seyoum Mesfin and > his deputy Dr. Tekeda Alemu. The two countries cooperate on trade, > diplomacy, security and democracy. The relationship between the people > of the two countries is based on mutual respect. > Ethiopian Airlines has suspended its daily flight to Hargessa > due to > security concern for the time being. Our government shares this > concern. Ethiopian Airlines has never flown to Somalia for business. > But it has been flying to Somaliland for years. We are proud of that. > Not only Ethiopia but also South Sudan can use the port of > Berbera in > the future. The fact that Ethiopia’s interests and UN offices > were attacked is an attempt to attack Somaliland itself. > Peace has eluded Somalia for the past 17 years. What is your > assessment of the current situation is Somalia? > We feel sorry for our Southern brothers. We think that we can share > our experience with them on how we achieved peace. The international > community must still give big attention to Somalia. The > politicians in > Somalia could not see or act beyond clan politics. The international > community has made efforts to bring peace to Somalia. You can > only take > a horse to the river but you can’t make it drink. The world had > repeatedly tried to bring the different factions to peaceful > negotiations. Somali leaders couldn’t do anything for their > people. We feel sorry about that. > The Somali transitional government and others in the former Italian > ruled Somalia do not accept the formation of Somaliland. They always > ask the international community not to give you recognition. > After Somaliland first declared independence from Britain, it > willingly united with Somalia. This union brought us nothing > useful. We > had no peace when we were with the Southerners. We didn’t have > any kind of big institutions then. Now we have five universities and > five colleges. Now there is peace and democracy. There are many > development endeavours going on in Somaliland. The city of > Hargessa is > growing rapidly. The idea of building Greater Somalia was > insane. The > reason why Somalia’s flag had five stars was to express the dream > to rule Somali speaking people from five countries, i.e. Italian > Somaliland, British Somaliland, French Somaliland (Djibouti), Ethiopia > and Kenya under one flag. That is a nightmare. > So we took ourselves out of this nightmare and established our own > country. But they didn’t wake up from that dream. There is no way > that we will unite with Somalia in the future. What we want to advise > our southern brothers is that if they want to build a stable country, > they should abandon the Greater Somalia dream. > They should abandon the five-star flag. The five Somali speaking > people will never be united. Somalia went to war twice with Ethiopia > and once with Kenya. It was an exercise in futility. They have > to open > up their eyes. They should not dream of uniting with Somaliland. > Somaliland is a sovereign country. We are very poor. Our annual budget > is not more than USD 55 million. But we have built a peaceful and > stable country. > A peace initiative has been taken by Djibouti. Although there > are hopeful signs, there are also frustrating conditions? > It is the wish of the government of Somaliland to see the successful > completion of the peace process. We wish success to the Djibouti > initiative. But the peace process will be successful if all parties > agree to accept the independence of Somaliland. All of them have to > understand that Somaliland is now a sovereign country, and that the > people of Somaliland have made a choice to live separately from the > rest of Somalia. > We are ready to talk to any administration in Mogadishu which is > willing to accept our sovereignty. But if Southern Somalis could not > establish peace among themselves, it doesn’t mean that > Somaliland’s peace, security or recognition by others must be > held hostage. We are not hostage to the chaos in Somalia. The world > must recognize this fact. Let them know that Somaliland’s > internal peace and security will not crumble as a result of pressure > from forces in Mogadishu. > It’s been more than a decade and half since you asked for > international recognition. Is there any hope that you will get that > recognition? > Somaliland is doing everything it can to get international > recognition. One is that we are trying to achieve economic > development,build democracy and show the world what kind of > order we have built. > The second thing is to intensify our diplomatic effort to secure that > recognition. A lot of countries are giving attention to us. For > instance, the African Union (AI) is closely working with us. > Former AU > commissioner Alpha Oumar Konare had sent a delegation that > visited four > of our provinces. He showed us that he is truly a son of Africa. > He presented our case to the AU Summit in Sirt in Lybia. Currently, > the AU is closely monitoring the situation in Somaliland and > Somalia by > assigning a special envoy. This encourages us. Africa has lost > something because it failed to engage Somaliland. There is a lot that > Somaliland can contribute to Africa. > Which country do you think should recognize Somaliland first? > We will be very happy if any country gives us recognition. When the > government of Bangladesh was first established, it was the neighboring > country, India that first recognized it. > Nations unite and separate. Somaliland’s case is no different. > African leaders have a moral obligation to recognize Somaliland. > Because they have failed to do that, Somaliland citizens who > live under > reign of democracy and peace are facing problems. History will > judge in > favour of Somaliland people. The leaders should open their eyes. > We believe that one smart African leader will break the taboo and > give recognition to Somaliland. How long should the Somaliland people > be denied recognition? Because we have no recognition, we > couldn’t secure loans from IMF and World Bank. > If countries give recognition to us first, we can then become > members of AU and UN. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development > (IGAD) and AU could not accept us as members because individual > countries were reluctant to give that recognition. > What does the implication of lack of peace in Somalia mean to > Somaliland? How much have you been affected? > If peace reigns in Somalia, everybody will benefit. What our > Southern brothers have done has made them the laughingstock of the > world. They plan to fail. If they plan to fail, they won’t > achieve anything. They failed to aim to succeed. The reason why > we beg > the world to help Somalia is that if peace is achieved there, > Somaliland will benefit, too. > Ethiopia is withdrawing its troops from Somalia after two years. > What will be the implication for peace in the sub-region? > All Africans should thank the government of Ethiopia for its > role in > Somalia. Not only Africans, the international community should > also be > grateful for what Ethiopia has been doing. > Ethiopians have shed their blood for the sake of Somalia. Ethiopia > has paid a lot of sacrifices in Somalia. The government of Somaliland > holds Ethiopia’s role in special regard. Although Ethiopia has > exerted a lot of effort to achieve peace in Somalia, the international > community has failed her by not sending peacekeeping troops to > Somalia.The government of PM Meles Zenawi had contributed a > great deal to > Africa and the world. It has guarded the peace in the sub-region at > least for the time being. Had Ethiopia not gone to Somalia, it would > have been impossible to imagine what the extremists could have done. > The region would have been in chaos. > If Ethiopian troops leave Somalia, the transitional government will > face immediate danger. In my opinion, if there is no > peacekeeping force > in Somalia, a much more serious problem would surface in that country. > I can’t decide what Ethiopia should do. But in my opinion, > Ethiopia’s withdrawal from Somalia will create a vaccum on an > unprecedented scale. The result could be disastrous. But we can defend > ourselves from Somali extremists. > If the government of Ethiopia decides to withdraw its troops from > Somalia, there must be an orderly withdrawal. The international > community shouldn’t be negligent. It must send in peacekeeping > troops very quickly. > Pirates have endangered the international trade route off the coast > of Somalia. What are you doing to limit the dangers that these pirates > pose? > Somaliland has never been attacked by pirates, not even an attempt > was made. We are closely guarding our coastline. The government of > Somaliland has long experience in fighting pirates. There is no way > that pirates can base their operations in Somaliland. > If the international community desires to learn how we successfully > manage to control pirates, we are willing to share our experience. > Piracy has become a real danger to international trade. We can > cooperate with the international community to contain this danger. > The other secessionist Somali territory is the Puntland where some > of the pirates have their base. What is your relationship with them? > We have some sort of relationship with Puntland authorities. For > instance, we jointly patrol our common border. They are also > trying to > learn from our experience at forming a proper government. We > want to > cooperate with them because they are our neighbours, just like > Djiboutiand Ethiopia. > There is illegal human trafficking in Puntland. Many Somalis and > Ethiopians lost their lives while they were being smuggled out of > Puntland via the sea. As in any country, there are corrupt > officials in > Puntland whose activities endanger the interests of their > country. They > have to refrain from doing that. There is also illegal arms > trade in > Puntland. But that’s not the case in Somaliland.” > Western diplomats hail Somaliland’s democratic order as an > example to the rest of Africa. You will also be holding the second > presidential election shortly. Is there a possibility that you will > face a post-election crisis just like other African countries? > We have created Somaliland out of nothing. The people are led by > leaders of their own choice. Last time, the first presidential > electionwas held. The opposition party claimed fraud in the > election. But the > number of votes that were allegedly rigged is only 80, even according > to the opposition party. The case was taken to the Supreme Court which > had the final say on the matter. All parties consented to the Supreme > Court decision. > Currently the party in which I’m a member is administrating > the country. There is real competition in our democracy. The ruling > party has only nine more seats than the opposition in parliament. > Although the ruling party could form a government on its own, it > included opposition parties in the cabinet. > We make improvements to our democracy from time to time. Somaliland > has a constitutional order. The fact that we avoided clan politics > enabled as to get where we are now. > > also hot today > news of other likely state fragmentations a bit closer to er home > http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20081219_ukraine_ruthenians_and_russian_resurgence > http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20081222_belgium_amid_economic_crisis_cost_turbulence_rises > > cheers > > > On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:37:33 -0800, aletheia kallos > <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >hargeisa is off to djibouti & addis ababa this weekend >on what > are billed as security talks with relevant officials >likely > including a mogadishu moderate & a moderate islamic > >http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Somaliland_leader_travels_to_Djibouti.shtml >nor could washington or paris be far away there > >also fascinating >http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Opposition_figure_returns_to_Djibouti_after_Mogadishu_visit.shtml >http://www.pr-inside.com/somalia-authorities-to-ban-khat-imports-r976065.htm >http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A907751 > >so these africans at least are already being what they want to see >& territorial integrity is evidently no obstacle > >at the same time in the near background >http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/unled-group-to-hold-critical-talks-on-somalia-2008121918127.html > >http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2a363176-ce04-11dd-8b30- > 000077b07658.html >http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/17dad45c-ce02-11dd- > 8b30-000077b07658.html > >http://www.newstatesman.com/africa/2008/12/somalia-ethiopian- > world-troops > >& on the state of piratology >http://www.e- > ir.info/?p=593 > > > > > > > > Dr. Gbenga Oduntan Lecturer in International Commercial Law, Kent Law School, Eliot College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS, UK. Phone: Switchboard 0044 (0)1227 764000 (ext 4817) Direct Line 0044 (0)1227 824817 Fax: 0044 (0) 1227 827831 Email: [log in to unmask] http://www.kent.ac.uk/law/people/index.htm