Ethiopia To Mediate Somaliland, Puntland Border Row

Hiiraan Online
Thursday, June 09, 2011

Regional authorities of Somaliland and Puntland are meeting in Ethiopia amid a longstanding
dispute that worsened the security situation of the two breakaway regions over the past few
years.

An Ethiopian embassy official in Somaliland Mr. Berhia Tesfie, said that leaders of the two
regions have reached a preliminary agreement to discuss the border problem in order to forge
peace between the authorities which were at loggerheads following disagreement over Sool,
Sanaag and Ceyn regions.

"The Ethiopian government is working to mediate the difference between Somaliland and
Puntland . We have advised leaders of the two authorities to embrace peace between their
people”

“We are fronting for stability in the regions, we want them to embrace dialogue in order to
restore the strained relationship and to avoid the use of war to settle any difference” Mr. Tesfie
said

The Ethiopian official called for unity of purpose between the two regions where bloody border
incursions led to death of people and destruction of properties.

“Unity is essential. We are calling upon the two regional authorities to build their security in
order to understand their common enemy which is Al-shabaab” the official added

The center of the conflict is the Sool region in the central north of Somalia. On Monday, 1
October 2007, Puntland and Somaliland armed forces fought near Laasaanood, the capital of
Sool region. Fighting worsened again two weeks later, on 15 October. Since then, Laasaanood
has remained in the hands of the Somaliland forces.

The heightened border security divided a community already fractured by a number of internal
conflicts, clan rivalries.

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