     somali | Saturday, October 14, 2000 - 11:50 am
BY DAVID GOUGH in Hargeisa
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ESPITE sporadic inter-clan violence, Somaliland remains the most peaceful part of the region and its government, under the leadership of President Ibrahim Egal, has been lobbying for it to be recognised as an independent state.
The government is warning that unless it receives assistance from world financial institutions, the violence that plagues the rest of Somalia might spread into its area.
"By refusing to recognise us the international community has dumped us in the twilight zone," said Foreign Minister Mahmoud Saleh Nour. "They still believe in a united Somalia but our independence is not negotiable."
Denied such financial aid, the Somaliland government has only its paltry annual revenue of $15-million, 73% of which pays the 20 000 former militiamen who are now integrated into the police and armed forces.
In the capital, Hargeisa, the scars of the civil war remain but the markets are stocked with imported goods, new buildings are springing up, and record traffic is passing through its main port, Berbera.
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Yet the majority of its people live in poverty and, without international assistance the state cannot improve education and health facilities. The UN, the European Union and aid agencies are assisting Somaliland with basic relief projects but funds are limited.
Last year the UN refugee agency initiated the repatriation of thousands of refugees from neighbouring Ethiopia back to Somaliland, yet the country still has difficulty obtaining development aid because of its security situation.
A regionally led peace initiative to be launched in Djibouti next month is widely seen as being Somalia's last chance at restoring order and reunifying. But the people of the former British protectorate of Somaliland regard the 1960 decision to merge with Italian Somaliland to form Somalia as misguided.
"We are a separate country and want nothing more to do with the south," said Kamal Abdullahi Warse, a 20-year-old student. This stance wins sympathy from many aid workers, who believe Somaliland could become a success story if it is allowed to secede.
It is believed to have significant oil deposits and mineral wealth. But for now the country depends on livestock exports to the Gulf states.
"The EU is by far the biggest donor in Somaliland and yet by comparison to other countries the money we spend here is peanuts," said Barry Clarke, the senior EU representative in Hargeisa. "This place has a great future if it is properly managed."
There are signs that growing international worries about the violence and chaos in Somalia may work in Somaliland's favour.
One senior European diplomate based in Nairobi said: "Somalia is a major transit point for drugs and arms shipments in and out of Africa, Islamic fundamentalism is on the increase and the international community fears that if the chaos is allowed to fester then Somalia could become a bigger problem than Afghanistan." |
