REPUBLIC OFSOMALILAND | Monday, October 09, 2000 - 03:52 am Somaliland Delegation is due in Washington DC Next Week The Somaliland ministerial delegation will conclude the first phase of its activities in New York by the end of this week. In the course of the week, the delegation has had intensive consultations with senior diplomats at the UN to reassert Somailand’s rejection of the outcome of the unrepresentative Arta conference. Somaliland maintains that the so-called Abdikasim-government-in-exile represents neither a segment nor all the people of the former territories of the defunct Somali Democratic Republic and therefore does not qualify to be accorded international legitimacy. Earlier, the delegation led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs had had high level successful talks with the leadership of Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Republic of South Africa. The delegation delivered messages from President Egal of Somaliland to the Kenyan President Moi, and to the South African President Mbeki. During their meetings the delegation informed the leadership of these key African states about the unruly tactics used by the government of Djibouti to convene and manipulate the Arta conference. Moreover, the delegation brought to the attention of these leaders that unless reversed, the outcome of this conference will most likely re-ignite a devastating civil war In the South (former Italian Somalia), undermine Somaliland’s hard-won stability and endanger the security of other countries in the Horn. The delegation is due in Washington next week to discus matters of mutual interest with American officials, members of the US Congress and non-governmental organizations. Somaliland Liaison Office Washington, DC Dr. Saad Noor |