- President Dahir Riyale Kahin of the breakaway republic of Somaliland today expressed his disappointment at Arab countries’ insistence on clinging to their wrong concept of Somalia.
In a telephone interview with Awdalnews Network, Kahin said: “Arabs are still attached to the old concept of Somalia. They deny seeing that the old concept of Somalia doesn’t exist any more. We are called Somaliland and we refuse to be lumped with Somalia.”
Responding to the Arab League latest proposal for an international meeting with the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations to talk about peace in Somalia, Kahin said that Arabs did nothing for the Somali people.
“They did not give an asylum to a single Somali person while other countries have sheltered and cared for the Somali people over the last 16 years,” he added.
Somaliland declared its independence in 1991 and has since been enjoying peace, stability and robust democratization progress in sharp contrast to the rest of Somalia, which descended into anarchy following the 1991 ouster of longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre by warlords.
Somaliland and the UIC
On the impact of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) on Somaliland, President Kahin noted that any development that took place in Somalia would have its impact on Somaliland, saying: “Definitely any developments taking place in Somalia will have an impact on us but we will not allow any interference in our internal affairs.”
He declined to comment on the reports of a few Somaliland clerics led by Sheikh Ali Warsame traveling to Mogadishu to join the UIC.
Sheikh Ali Warsame, a former leader of the Al Itthiad Al Islami and an in-law of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, has been reported to have left his hometown Buroa, where he lived as a reclusive but influential cleric since the Al Ittihad militias were badly beaten by Ethiopia and Puntland in the early 1990s.
Torture allegations
Regarding video footage about a torture of a cleric currently in jail in Hargeisa, Kahin said that the footage seemed to be a fabrication, underlining that Somaliland was investigating the case and would present the outcome to the public.
“We don’t use torture as an investigative method and we don’t torture anyone in our prisons. It is against our values and our laws,” he added, pointing out that the whole episode could be a ruse by some people trying to use the name of Islam for their own agenda.
Kahin, however, confirmed that the man was suspected of being behind the explosives found in Hargeisa during the parliamentary elections in September 2005.
Las Anod issue
On the recent visit by the leader of the autonomous Somali state of Puntland to Puntland-occupied Las Anod and whether Las Anod had become part of Puntland by default, Kahin said that Somaliland had internationally recognized borders as left by the colonial powers.
“To claim part of another country is just a dream. The people of Las Anod are divided and only time will tell on which side they would like to be.”
Internal Affairs
Answering a question on the issue of the election of the House of Elders, he said the election of the House of Elders should be based on regional basis and statistics. “There can be no elections until a countrywide population census is conducted. Holding an election needs budget, laws and census. Therefore, this house will continue to function until 2010.”
On the economic front, Kahin said that the ground work for the Somaliland-German joint venture on establishing a cement factory, coal powered electricity plant and a gypsum factory would start on October 14 when representatives of the Germany’s Sougueta Engineering AG arrive in Hargeisa.
He was referring to a joint venture agreement that Somaliland signed with Germany’s Sougueta Engineering AG in early September 2006 on establishing a cement factory, coal powered electricity plant and a gypsum factory at the cost of US$ 250-300 million.
Kahin said that the joint venture would be on the basis of 51% held by the government and 49% by the German company.
On the bad situation of the country’s roads, particularly the repeated complaints of the Awdal people about the road between Dilla and Borama, President Kahin said: “It is not only Awdal but all the country’s roads are in bad shape. Roads inside Hargeisa are in a bad condition. The infrastructure is very costly and we are working hard to get outside funding for the construction of the roads linking Odweyne and Hargeisa, Kalabaydh and Borama, Wajaale and Allaybaday and others.”
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