SOMALILAND: British and French diplomats arrive

[rich-boy]

Somaliland247's Blog
April 17, 2010
SOMALILAND: British and French diplomats arrive
Filed under: NEWS — somaliland247 @ 11:16 pm


HARGEISA— A high-level British and French diplomatic officials have arrived in Hargeisa for consultations over the holding of forthcoming general elections in the country and to strengthen ties, Somalilandpress has learned on Friday.

The British delegation was led by Mr. John Marshall, deputy ambassador at the UK embassy in Addis Ababa, held private discussions with the Speaker of lower house of parliament, Mr. Abdirahman Mohamed ‘Irro’, as well as the chairman of National Electoral Commission (NEC) and members from the three political parties.

Mr. Marshall, discussed a range of issues including security, forthcoming elections in Somaliland, and the role Somaliland’s 82-seat House of Representatives could play in the democratization process.

The British visit was preceded by a four-member delegation from the French embassy in Djibouti and was led by Mr. Dominique Decherf, French Ambassador to Djibouti and Mr. Thierry Choinier, the first secretary of the French Embassy in Djibouti. The other two members, Mr. Banos Robles Bernard and Mr. Jacques Sabrot were from the French Ministry of education and the Ministry of Culture respectively.

The French delegation has met with the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abdirahman Osman Adan. The two sides discussed ways of working towards strengthening ties between Somaliland and France in the fields of security, development, education and culture. They have also discussed the forthcoming elections and the French delegation plans to meet with all political parties as well as the NEC. The delegation said they were also in the country for a fact-finding mission and were accompanied by Somaliland Representative to France, Mr. Ali Ismael Hassan.

Somalilandpress has learned that, the French want Somaliland’s high-tertiary institutions to include French in their education curriculum as well as presenting French culture and identity through the support of their Maisons de Culture (culture centres), which Mr. Jacques Sabrot is leading. The French diplomats also insisted that they would help Somaliland build strong education capacity and infrastructure.

In recent times, Somaliland has been developing strong ties with France, it was three weeks ago when Somaliland Liaison office in Paris was invited to the all exclusive French-speaking, the International Organisation of La Francophonie for it’s 40th anniversary. In late 2009, Somaliland business communities as well as members of the government were also invited to Djibouti to meet with French companies.

The British and French delegation came just days after the NEC has announced the general election will be held in June and that all three parties have signed the agreed date.

(Somalilandpress)

[original dervish]

SOMALILAND WANTS TO BE THE NEW DJIBOUTI.AFER THE AMERICANS HAVE BOUGHT DJIBOUTI LOCK,STOCK AND BARREL,THE FRENCH NEED A

NEW F**ING STREET,AND IT SEEMS HARGEISA IS WELL PLACEDTO TAKE UP THE SLACK.

PS THERE IS ONE CONDITION,THE HOOKERS AND RENT BOYS WILL HAVE TO LEARN FRENCH.

Meanwhile, an attempt was made to control prostitution through the 1948 ordinance, which gave medical authorities the legal power to detain and segregate prostitutes. 185 But the enforcement of the ordinance ran into two difficult problems, particularly in Hargeysa, where the largest number of prostitutes resided. First, the public health department lacked the proper institutions to detain and rehabilitate prostitutes. The only disciplinary institution in the protectorate capable of performing such a task was the prison for women at Berbera, but it lacked the staff and the space to rehabilitate prostitutes. Second, prostitutes lived in the hut sections of the main towns, which were not planned, and where it was "difficult for the police to maintain law and order." 186 Governor G. T. Fisher ordered in 1948 the removal and reorganization "in lines" of the hut section in Hargeysa 187 in order to extend proper policing and public health services, and to control and rehabilitate prostitutes. At first the police sought the cooperation of the residents of the area. As their cooperation was not forthcoming, the police decided to use force to remove the huts. The [End Page 70] police, however, "met with fierce opposition from women and children who stoned the Police while their men folk remained conveniently in the background." 188 Some of the police were injured in the riot, and in order "to extricate themselves . . . fired into the air. One person was hurt but nobody was killed." 189