The Voice Of Somaliland: Pro Puntland Laascanooders political demise

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Pro Puntland Laascanooders political demise

Needless to say, the sweeping military victories of the Islamic Court Union has deeply changed political discourses across the map. It is now common to see lifetime promoters of the Somali "unity", "homogeneity" adopt a resolutely regionalist stance. For the last 15 years Puntland has presented itself as the standard bearer of the advocacy for a strong and centralized Somali government. Even if this hypocritical stance was all about introducing by the back door remnants of the Siad Barre regime, the propaganda stemming from it help achieved the lifelong presidential dream of Abdillahi Yusuf. To Yalahow calling on Hassan Abshir to go back to Garowe, Somali unity propagandist downplayed Somali regionalism and contemptuously attached to Somaliland the label of Somalidiid.

But that was then. Thursday, the deputy interior minister of Puntland Ibrahim Haji Bakin stated that "we have nothing in common with Mogadisho". So much for the tired concept of Somali unity. In the process, the Puntland minister went on to shatter Somali Unionist icon by saying "we still remember the damage by Sayid Mohamed Abdule Hassan to Harti clan of Darod tribe and initially he come to us to defend the Islamic religion…" While the mythology of the great Somali hero instantly voted itself out of existence , we wonder why Puntland forces are still called after Sayid Mohamed Daraawiish..

At the same time, the popular website Idamaale.com went to great length to demonstrate the cultural differences between Somalia and Puntland before calling on Puntlandlanders to reawaken the Harti identity and to defend their "superiority"

So where all this leaved the Pro Puntland Lascanooders. The dogged defenders of the Darawish movement seem dealt a deadly blow and promised to political demise.

Faysal Diriye

Ottawa-Canada

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The New Somaliland Press & Publications Bill 2007

The Somaliland Government has recently sent to the House of Representatives a new Bill on press and publications. The provisions of this bill (based almost entirely on the Yemen Law No: 25 of 1990 on the Press & Publications) run contrary to international norms relating to freedom of expression and the independence of the press and are not in line with the Somaliland constitution.
The considerable powers given to the Minister of Information (and other ministers) include even deciding on appeals from anyone whose writings have been turned down for publication by a newspaper’s editor (Article 46). These ministerial powers over the press and publishers/printers/distributors etc, the compulsory registration of all press and publication activities, including the practice of the profession of journalism, and the extensive criminal sanctions which add to the existing array of criminal offences in the 1962 Somali Penal Code contrast sharply with the current Somaliland Press Law (2004), which contains no criminal sanctions and is based on codes of conduct. Unfortunately the Somaliland Government has repeatedly made clear its dissatisfaction with the current press Law and has used the Penal Code and extra-judicial powers to detain and imprison journalists. It is no surprise, therefore, that the Somaliland Government is not putting forward amendments of the current Press Law, but is now proposing its wholesale replacement by this new Bill which introduces considerable criminal sanctions, such as fines and imprisonment (Article 99) for the infringement of its numerous provisions, as well as prohibition of continued practice of journalism or publication or even circulation of printed materials; confiscation of property, including printing presses (Article 101) and seizure of printed materials (Article 102)..........Full Text

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The "Letter-of-Death" by General "Morgan" January 23, 1987

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The report is addressed to the President of the SDR, the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of Interior. The latter, Major-General Ahmed Suleiman Abdalla, is also a son-in-law of the President, and Third Deputy Prime Minister. Since President Barre is also the Minister of Defence -- the previous holder of that portfolio, General Mohamed Ali Samatar, having been promoted Prime Minister on January 30, 1987 -- the report is seemingly confined to family members. This would explain its extreme frankness in specifying certain clans as targets for implemented and recommended punitive action.
The target is the Isaaq Clan Family. The term "clan family" was first coined by Professor I.M. Lewis, Professor Social Anthropology at the London School Economics, to describe the collective name for each of the several major divisions to which Somali clans traditionally divide themselves. The Isaaq clan family sub-divides into four main clans.
Top Secret.......Read the rest