“FOREIGN MINISTER” OF A BREAKAWAY SOMALI REGION UTTERS REMARKS OFFENSIVE TO ‘SOMALI ETHNICITY’

September 29, 2011

P R E S S   R E L E A S E

“FOREIGN MINISTER” OF A BREAKAWAY SOMALI REGION UTTERS REMARKS OFFENSIVE TO ‘SOMALI  ETHNICITY’

On Thursday, September 17th 2011 the soi-disant ‘foreign minister’ of ‘Somaliland’, Dr. Mohammed Abdullahi Omer, spoke in an event hosted by the International Republican Institute (IRI) in Washington, DC on the subject of “Crisis in the Horn of Africa: A Somaliland Perspective”, to a largely foreign audience comprising the apologists of the so-called ‘Somaliland’ and others who, presumably, came to learn something from the event.
Dr. Mohammed spoke on the topic and, as expected, painted a horrific picture of the South of our country and a very gloomy one of Puntland while, on the other hand, he gave a very bright and promising picture of the secessionist enclave he called ‘Somaliland’.  He fed his unfortunate and misguided foreign audience with nothing more than his usual claptrap of lies and fabrications about our country.
Everyone knows that the World is tired of the secessionists’ repeated distortions of the realities on the ground, and it is common knowledge that the secession is fueled by a single clan – the clan to which Dr. Mohammed and Silanyo (the President of the secessionist camp) belong.  As a result, there is no single country that recognizes the so-called ‘Somaliland’ despite all the expensive efforts that the secessionists have deployed far and wide over the last twenty-two years, including the recruitment of foreign influence peddlers, such as Dr. Peter Pham, who moderated the IRI session.   It is also well known that the secessionists are still pinning their hope on the international community getting tired of the instability of the South of our country and recognizing the secessionist camp in desperation.
But, apart from seeing the secession as an internal Somali problem which Somalis themselves have to deal with, the international community is not blind to the fact that at least a third of the territory that was once British Somaliland is inhabited by the anti-secessionist Warsangeli and Dhulbahante clans that are related to the clans in Puntland. These two clans have never voted in any election organized by the secessionist administration in Hargeisa and remain adamant in their refusal to join the secessionist camp.
In his talk, however, Dr. Mohammed referred to these clans as a different ‘ethnic group’ related to Puntland but traditionally living in ‘some districts’ in ‘Somaliland’.  This ominous statement clearly means that while those clans belong to Puntland, the land on which they live belongs to what he calls “Somaliland”, which is taken to mean the Isaq clan – his “ethnic group” (to use his term). To illustrate his point Dr. Mohammed further said that some people of his ‘ethnic’ group live in Kenya and Ethiopia but ‘we never claim’ land from either country.  Of course the Isaq in Ethiopia and Kenya do not by themselves constitute a distinct ethnic group, but only with their other fellow Somalis in these two neighbouring countries.
To reflect for a moment on the Foreign Minister’s line of twisted thinking then one can conclude that the other two non-Isaq clans in ‘Somaliland’, the Gudobirsi and the Issa, who also by and large are known to be anti-secession, also belong to ‘ethnic minorities’ from Ethiopia and Djibouti respectively.
Hence having arbitrarily designated four of the five clans in ‘Somaliland’ as foreign ‘ethnic groups’ who are in Somaliland at the pleasure of the Isaq, then according to his chauvinistic clan-cleansing mentality, the territory of the former British Protectorate as a whole belong to his clan, the Isaq!!
Such loose talk smacks of the secessionists’ denial that all the clans in ‘Somaliland’ are part and parcel of that single ethnic group known as ‘Somalis’. Referring to fellow Somalis living next door as belonging to an ‘ethnic group’ while incorporating the word ‘Somali’ in the appellation of the one-clan secessionist entity ‘Somaliland Republic’, is very odd, to say the least.
When asked how the United States could help, the ‘Minister’ asked for pressure to be exerted on the United Nations to treat Somalia and ‘Somaliland’ separately as two different countries and to allow ‘Somaliland’ to address the Security Council, and that this UN body should desist from reaffirming the unity and territorial integrity of Somalia.
Such display of ignorance of the international system of which the United Nations is a part, by a person who claims to be a ‘Minister of Foreign Affairs”, is truly remarkable.  A few months ago Dr. Mohammed was humiliated before a delegation of the Security Council in Nairobi when he claimed to be the ‘foreign minister’ of an ‘independent’ state called ‘Somaliland.  He was told in no uncertain terms that he should address the delegation only as a representative of a regional administration within Somalia.
As usual, we call on our compatriots who are vainly seeking the recognition of their breakaway region as an independent state to return to their senses and desist from such divisive and harmful actions and to work towards the peace and unity of our country which will constitute a solid contribution to the peace and harmony in the Horn of Africa. We all belong to one homogenous ethnic group, called Somalis, sharing the same language, religion, and culture.
For comments or questions, please contact:
NORTHERN SOMALIS FOR PEACE & UNITY (NSPU)
Communication & Public Relations Department
E-mail: contact@nspu.org     website: www.nspu.org
NORTHERN SOMALIS FOR PEACE & UNITY (NSPU) is a grass-roots Somali advocacy organization with Branches in Somalia, United Arab Emirates, Canada, USA, UK, and South Africa. We are dedicated to the promotion of peace and unity among the long-suffering people of Somalia.  We believe the ‘Somalia problem’ can only be dealt with within the framework of a holistic strategic approach aimed at the empowerment of a central government to rebuild national democratic governance institutions and restore law and order throughout the country. NSPU believes the balkanization of Somalia is a recipe for future conflicts and a bleak future for the Somali people, who are bonded by ethnicity, language, religion, and shared centuries-old culture and traditions.