Baydhaba (PP News Desk) — The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called on parties to the civil war in Northern Somalia to come to the negotiation table. “Our agenda is to maintain the union peacefully. We call on Somaliland to stop using guns. We call on people of Laascaanood to achieve their goals through peaceful means. We are not indifferent to the conflict. We are making efforts to stop the conflict. The guns must fall silent first” said President Mohamud in Baydhaba, where a consultative summit for several Federal Member States was concluded.
The Federal Government of Somalia has adopted a neutral position on the conflict in Northern Somalia under which Somaliland administration is waging a secession war based on pre-1960 colonial borders. The Somaliland administration instructed its lobbyist FGS Global, a London-based public relations company, to send to the United States Government unsubstantiated claims against the Federal Government of Somalia. “As of today, more than 500 Somali Armed Forces members – formerly from brigades known as Haramad, Gorgor, and Danab – are fighting against the Somaliland government alongside al- Shabaab elements and militant groups [in Laascaanood]” wrote Joshua Gross, FGS Global partner.
“The Federal Government of Somalia no longer sees Somaliland as its counterpart in Union Talks that were in the past wrongly framed as South-North talks” said a political analyst in Mogadishu.
Ali Ahmed, a political commentator in Hargeysa, said that the Somaliland administration President Muse Bihi had drastically reduced the profile of Somaliland in future talks. “There will never be a pretence to be representing unionist constituencies in Northern Somalia” said Ahmed.
© Puntland Post, 2023
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