Somaliland: Somalia PM Informs of Imminent start of Talks

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By: Yusuf M Hasan

MOGADISHU (Somalilandsun) – Machinations are in progress to resuscitate the postponed talks between Somaliland and Somalia.

The Somalia prime minister Abdi Farah Shirdoon ‘Saeed’ has revealed that plans are afoot to reconvene talks between the neighboring countries which have been in suspension for a couple of months.

The talks that are as a result of the dictates of the London and Istanbul II conferences on Somalia were postponed by the Somaliland administration in order to facilitate the election of a new government in Mogadishu after the mandate of the Sheikh Sharif led Transitional Federal government expired thus paving the way for the election of the current government of Hasan Sheikh Mahmud.

The talk resumption revelation was made by PM Shirdoon during a briefing to the Mogadishu parliament where he informed the parliamentarians that successful conclusion to the talks whose objectives are known to all is anticipated.

The British government that has been in his forefront of the talks is currently hosting, separately, the foreign ministers of Somalia and Somaliland Ms Fozia Haji Yusuf Aden and Dr Mohamed Abdilahi Omar respectively.

While Ms Fozia has informed that her visit pertains to preparations for a forthcoming visit to that country by her boss president Mahmud Sheikh Hasan it is not yet clear on the purpose of the visit by her counter part from Somaliland.

Suffice is to say that it is most probable that the two foreign ministers shall be brought together by the Brits who diplomatic cunning is renowned worldwide not to mention that their desire to see conclusion of the talks that started in Chevening a house in the suburbs of London is supreme.

In a recent tweet the Somaliland head of state President informed that he is soon to embark on journey to the USA but revelations that his Somalia counterpart is on his way to the UK and coupled with the simultaneous arrival in London by their foreign policy chiefs is amble evidence that some sort of head of state meeting is in the cooking.

During 40th anniversary commemorations of the Somali Pen Society in Djibouti the other day the two heads of state managed to hold a brief and first ever tet ‘a’ tet that was reported by president Silanyo as nothing of import despite revealing in the same breath that the postponed talks are to be resumed.

In the short duration of the talks which were the first between the two former united countries in 21 years a number of accords were reached in Chevening house in England between technical committees and in the subsequent Silanyo-Sharif meet in Dubai.