EC-004-1999
Dear Sir:
The recent agreement between southern Somali factions, signed on December 22, in Cairo, under the auspices of the Egyptian government, did not only show a callous disregard for the rights and interests of the people of Somaliland, but it also added insult to injury when it falsely claimed that Somaliland is part of this agreement. The fact of the matter is that Somaliland’s legitimate government has not sent any representative to this meeting, and its President, Mohammed Ibrahim Egal, has stated his opposition to any agreement that compromises Somaliland’s independence. Most observers also agree that the overwhelming majority of the people of Somaliland are in favor of independence and do not want to be part of Somalia. By ignoring all of these glaring facts and giving diplomatic cover to the southern factions’ grossly distorted claims, the Egyptian government has clearly abandoned any pretension of being an impartial mediator in the Somali conflict.
The recent actions of the Egyptian government have put at risk the historical links between Somaliland and Egypt, and gave Somalilanders reason to think that the Egyptian government does not value their friendship or the fact that their country is located at the entrance to the Red Sea, and that it plans to make them sacrificial lambs in pursuit of its regional objectives.
The Egyptian government, and whoever else thinks that the people of Somaliland can be herded into the slaughterhouse that is Mogadishu are sadly mistaken. We have been there for thirty-one years (1960-1991) and found nothing but misery, death, and destruction, and we have no intention of going back.
Somaliland is already a de facto state that was established according to the wishes of the majority of its citizens, and meets the international requirements of statehood such as a functioning parliament and an elected government which controls a territory with identifiable and internationally known borders (its borders coincide with those of The Protectorate of British Somaliland).
The international community should stop punishing the people of Somaliland for achieving through their own efforts what the southern faction leaders could not achieve with the help of so many of the world’s governments. Unlike the southern warlords, the people of Somaliland neither want the international community to show them how to put their house in order nor to save them from themselves. All they want is that the international community fulfill its duties by recognizing Somaliland’s independence.
Signed
Jamal Gabobe, for
Somaliland Forum
Seattle, Washington