Somalia’s Puntland ready to hold reconciliation conference

[Coeus]

Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland is ready to hold a reconciliation conference to bring peace back to war-ridden Somalia, an official said Friday.

Gen. Abdullahi Jama’, also known as Ilka Jiir, Puntland’s minister of interior, said his administration is committed to invite all Somali factions to Puntland to solve their differences and help create a peaceful environment.

Jama’ said Abdurrahman Mohammed Farole, Puntland’s president, announced the conference in Garowe, the capital of Puntland.

The minister noted that football players from all regions of Somalia had been invited in Garowe for a tournament, saying that is a clear sign of Puntland’s ability to host a general reconciliation conference for Somalis.

The statement comes as insecurity and violence in parts of Puntland have reportedly been rampant in the last few months.

Late last month, Abdullahi Salah Shirwa', Puntland's high court attorney, was killed after sundown at the center of the port town of Bosaso, about 1,500 kilometers north of Somalia's capital Mogadishu

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson recently said U.S. officials were developing ties with both Puntland and Somaliland, both of which declared themselves independent in the early 1990s. “Both of these parts of Somalia have been zones of relative political and civil stability and we think they in fact will be a bulwark against extremism and radicalism that might emerge from the south,” Carson told reporters.

Somaliland and Puntland have been the most stable areas in Somalia after the collapse of the country’s military government in 1991.


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