Saturday, April 27, 2013

As Somaliland Officials End US Tour, UN Wouldn't Circulate Their Letter, So Put Online Here by Inner City Press


By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 27 -- Somaliland's president Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo has been in the United States for days, and will meet tonight in Chantilly, Virginia with Somaliland expatriates living in the US.
  At the UN in New York, however, the letter Republic of Somaliland foreign minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omar tried to get circulated to the Security Council members never was. Inner City Press has obtained a copy of the letter, and puts it online here.
  In the letter, Somaliland disputes the right of Somalia to establish any “exclusive economic zone” off its coastline; it urges the UN system not to put its Hargeisa offices under a structure based in Mogadishu.
  In the Security Council on April 25, UN Department of Political Affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman said the UN welcomes Somalia and Somaliland talking. But at the UN, Somaliland's letter wasn't even circulated.
  And Somaliland will not be attending the UK hosted Somalia Conference in London on May 7. So is it being treated fairly? What will the expatriates and diaspora have to say on Saturday night? Watch this site.