Hargeisa (PP News Desk) — Dr Guled Ahmed Jama, a lawyer based in Hargeisa, is facing intimidation from the Somaliland Administration. Guled criticised the Somaliland Administration’s decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, a city Israel regards as its capital.
“The United Nations Security Council issued a resolution on Jerusalem in 1980. It is not in Somaliland’s best interest to turn the entire world against itself. Somaliland’s interests lie in seeking recognition from every single country. This is why I believe that a decision which violates international law does not serve Somaliland. I am not speaking right now about Palestine’s interests, although I should. I am speaking about Somaliland’s [search] for independence, which is entering a level of risk it has never faced before. Why?” wrote Guled.
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 478
• “Censures in the strongest terms” Israel’s enactment of the “Basic Law” on Jerusalem;
• Affirms that the law constitutes a violation of international law;
• Determines that all legislative and administrative measures seeking to alter the character and status of Jerusalem are “null and void and must be rescinded forthwith”;
• Calls upon “those States that have established diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to withdraw such missions from the Holy City”.
Abdiaziz Guudcadde, a distinguished translator, echoed Guled’s concerns when he described the decision to open a Somaliland Administration mission in Jerusalem as “unwise”.
The Somaliland Administration unilaterally seceded from Somalia in 1991, but it does not hold a seat at the United Nations due to the lack of international recognition and its rejectionist position on the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia.
Guled argued that an administration seeking recognition cannot easily recover from violations of international law in the way that a recognised UN member state might.
“You can look at South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Northern Cyprus, which were recognised by only one country each, but will never achieve global recognition because they were established in violation of international law (jus cogens),” Guled argued.
Police from the Somaliland Administration reportedly summoned Guled and asked him to explain why he had written legal commentary on the consequences of violating the international law after the secessionist administration has opened “an embassy” in Jerusalem.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Federal Government of Somalia condemned the Somaliland Administration’s decision to establish a mission in Jerusalem.
“It is unwise and unfair to tie our search for recognition to denying the Palestinians their right to statehood,” a member of the Somaliland parliament, who requested anonymity, told a Puntland Post correspondent in Hargeisa.
Many people are now beginning to support Dr Guled’s call for restraint and level-headedness in diplomatic matters. Critics argue that the administration of President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi continues to undermine the image of the Somaliland Administration, which some increasingly view as “politically and diplomatically reckless”.
© Puntland Post, 2026