US Ambassador to Somalia Urges Somaliland President to withdraw troops on the outskirts of Laascaanood

Somaliland administration President Muse Bihi Abdi (right) welcoming the US Ambassador to Somalia Larry André Jr. in Hargeisa (file photo).

Hargeisa (PP News Desk) — The United States Ambassador to Somalia Larry André Jr. today called on the Somaliland administration President Muse Bihi Abdi to take credible steps to end the conflict in Laascaanood. “Somaliland President Bihi has the power to create distance between forces in Lascanood & announce a roadmap for future elections. During a frank conversation with him this afternoon, I encouraged him to do both” the US Embassy in Mogadishu tweeted on behalf of Ambassador André.

Today, Somaliland administration claimed it was fighting terrorism In Laascaanood and asked for support from the International Community. The diplomatic intervention of the US Ambassador follows a positon statement from the European Union in which it described the conflict as the cause of grievances. The EU called for a long-term solution to the issue of the “Somaliland unilateral secession”.

The emphasis on “distance” between the forces reflects the positon of Laascaanood traditional leaders who called on Somaliland administration to withdraw its troops to Oog. “The United States of America is applying one-Somalia policy when the Ambassador urges President Bihi to cease hostilities his administration started under the pretext that it is enforcing a colonial border in sovereign Somalia” said a political analyst in Mogadishu.

© Puntland Post, 2023