From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Jul 26 2009 - 05:53:26 EDT
Somalia: U.S. Congressman rejects to meet with Somaliland official
Jul 26, 2009 - 9:15:29 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. July 25 (Garowe Online) - U.S. Congressman Donald Payne has
refused to meet with an official from the self-declared Republic of
Somaliland, inside sources tell Garowe Online.
Mr. Abdullahi Mohamed Du'ale, Somaliland's foreign minister, was recently in
Washington, D.C., and asked to meet with the U.S. Congressman but he was
"rejected" on at least three separate occasions, the sources added.
Congressman Payne, who chairs the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on
Africa and Global Health, organized a Congressional hearing on Somalia and
invited officials from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in
Mogadishu, and the self-governing regions of Somaliland and Puntland.
The June 25 hearing in Washington, D.C., was attended by Puntland President
Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole" and a Somali Embassy official read a statement
on behalf of TFG Foreign Minister Abdullahi Oomar.
But Somaliland Foreign Minister Du'ale, who initially accepted to attend the
congressional hearing, canceled at the last minute after demanding a
"separate panel" to focus on Somaliland's separatist agenda.
This demand was rejected by Congressman Payne and the hearing's organizers,
who forwarded the argument that "common issues" were covered at the hearing,
namely humanitarian aid delivery, the counterterrorism effort and the
anti-piracy campaign.
Meanwhile, Somaliland opposition parties have accused President Dahir
Riyale's administration of failing to take advantage of a venue in
Washington, D.C., to present Somaliland's case for independence.
President Riyale continues to face domestic pressure and international
criticism, including charges that the Somaliland administration has violated
press freedoms by arresting two radio journalists and shutting down an
independent television station this month.
Somaliland, comprised of regions in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally
declared independence from the rest of the Horn of Africa country in 1991
but has not been recognized internationally.
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