Medeshi Dec 15, 2008
JOHANNESBURG
A breakaway region of Somalia with a name that is bound to confuse outsiders - Somaliland - plans to offer its harbor on the Gulf of Aden as a base for U.S., British and Indian warships to battle pirates.
In the process, Somaliland hopes to raise its international profile and ultimately advance its campaign to become an independent nation that is recognized worldwide.
"This crisis is not going to go away by itself, but we can solve it," Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin told The Washington Times by telephone.
"We will place the deep-water port of Berbera at the disposal of the U.S., British, Indian and other navies, but our [proposal] goes well beyond that," Mr. Kahin said.
Somaliland consists of the northern leg of Somalia, which was cobbled together from former British and Italian colonies.
Somaliland declared independence from a dysfunctional Somali government in 1991. Since then, it has stayed out of the international spotlight.
It avoided the famine and violence that first made Somalia a household name with the 1992-93 U.S. invasion. It also remained unaffected by the near-takeover by the rest of the country by Islamic militants, which prompted an invasion by Ethiopian troops in 2006.
Mr Kahin said now is not the time to discuss sovereignty for Somaliland.
"The piracy problem is far greater in the short term than any talk of flags and embassies," he said.
A breakaway region of Somalia with a name that is bound to confuse outsiders - Somaliland - plans to offer its harbor on the Gulf of Aden as a base for U.S., British and Indian warships to battle pirates.
In the process, Somaliland hopes to raise its international profile and ultimately advance its campaign to become an independent nation that is recognized worldwide.
"This crisis is not going to go away by itself, but we can solve it," Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin told The Washington Times by telephone.
"We will place the deep-water port of Berbera at the disposal of the U.S., British, Indian and other navies, but our [proposal] goes well beyond that," Mr. Kahin said.
Somaliland consists of the northern leg of Somalia, which was cobbled together from former British and Italian colonies.
Somaliland declared independence from a dysfunctional Somali government in 1991. Since then, it has stayed out of the international spotlight.
It avoided the famine and violence that first made Somalia a household name with the 1992-93 U.S. invasion. It also remained unaffected by the near-takeover by the rest of the country by Islamic militants, which prompted an invasion by Ethiopian troops in 2006.
Mr Kahin said now is not the time to discuss sovereignty for Somaliland.
"The piracy problem is far greater in the short term than any talk of flags and embassies," he said.
