Rome (Fides Service) - From 9 to 15 people are said to have died in violent clashes yesterday 29 October in northern Somalia, in Las Anod, in the disputed Sool region which lies between Somaliland and Puntland. Somaliland, formerly a British Protectorate, declared its independence from the rest of Somalia some time ago. Whereas Puntland, which established its own administration in 1998, claims only autonomy within a united Somalia.
On 10 October, the President of Puntland, Abdullahi Yusuf was elected President of Somalia by the Parliament of Somalia meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi (see Fides 12 October 2004). No sooner elected President Yusuf voiced his intention to reunite the country and this is sure to have provoked concern in Somaliland. However the clashes could have a local cause.
“The clashes are worrying and let’s hope they are not a prelude to war” Federico Battera, African History researcher at Trieste University, an expert on Somalia, told Fides. “It should be remembered that Somaliland and Puntland have fought over Sool for a long time. There is another disputed region, Sanaag, further north. Both Sool and Sanaag joined Somaliland, in fact they too were under British administration, and both took part in the constitution of Puntland’s autonomy in 1998. Today Sool and Sanaag are under double administration of Puntland and Somaliland in competition, with two police forces and two sets of law courts. Sool and Sanaag send representatives to both Somaliland and Puntland parliaments” Battera told Fides.
“This ambiguous situation is accentuated by the fact that in 1998 votes of MPs from Sool and Sanaag were decisive for the election of Yusuf as President of Puntland. Puntland’s vice president between 1998 and 2001 was from Sool, and so were some of Yusuf’s collaborators. Yusuf has therefore a debt of gratitude towards these areas and the recent clashes may have been a move to force the new President to bring them both under full control of his administration. If this is so, war is a possibility” Battera concluded. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/10/2004 righe 34 parole 416)