Monday, August 29, 2011
Puntland, which unlike Somaliland does not seek to secede, had in January this year cut ties with Somalia's transitional government over what is said were policy differences.
"The TFG and Puntland State will closely cooperate for the benefit of the Somali people," said President Ahmed after hours of closed-door talks with Puntland leaders including President Abdurahman Sheikh Mohamed Farole.
President Ahmed told a news conference that the two regions would no longer squabble over national issues and would now work closely together. The Somali President, who was warmly received by the public and officials, said two meetings brokered by the UN to thrash out differences were planned.
"The first phase of the meeting will be held in Mogadishu," he said, adding that security in the Somali capital had improved since the fundamentalist al-Shabaab movement vacated its positions in early August.
First visit
He added that the next meeting would be held in Garowe, Puntland's capital, settling a months-long disagreement over where to hold such talks.
It was President Ahmed's first visit to Puntland since he was elected head of state in 2009.
The Sunday talks in Garowe were catalysed by Somalia’s prime minister, Prof Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, and Dr Augustine Phillip Mahiga, the seasoned diplomat from Tanzania who is the UN secretary-general’s special envoy to Somalia.