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| Africa Horn |
| US seeks closer ties with Somali break away regions |
| 2010-09-26 |
| [Al Arabiya] The United States said Friday it seeks to develop closer ties with Somalia's northern breakaway states as part of efforts to undercut Islamists threatening Somalia's fragile central government. Johnnie Carson, the State Department's pointman for Africa, said the new policy aims to help the governments of Puntland and Somaliland improve services for their people, by having more U.S. diplomats and aid workers visit them. U.S. personnel traveling from nearby Nairobi, Kenya would hold periodic meetings with officials in the breakaway regions and propose help in health, education, agriculture and water projects, he said. "In the past we have not engaged these areas and political entities aggressively. We will now start to do so," he told news hounds on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. "We think both of these parts of Somalia have been zones of relative political and civil stability and we think they will in fact be a bulwark against extremism and radicalism that might emerge from the south," he said. Al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shabab forces of Evil control most of Somalia and have been closing in on the Western-backed Transitional Federal Government's Mogadishu quarters. He also said U.S. officials will "reach out" to clans and other groups in south central Somalia that are opposed to al-Shabab forces of Evil but that are not directly allied with the central government in Mogadishu. "We will look for opportunities to work with these groups," said Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Despite the new U.S. approach, he said the United States will continue to recognize one Somali state, in line with both regional and international organizations, including the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society. "We do not contemplate and we are not about to recognize either of these entities or areas as independent states," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Actually, given Zero's track record, this is the first step in throwing the Transitional Government in Mogadishu under the bus. Besides which, Somaliland has been highly successful in both fighting terrorism and providing basic services to its population. We should have recognized them years ago, and with Zero's administration causing all of the buyer remorse in the US, we just might under the next administration. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2010-09-26 14:50 |
| #1 Did the light bulb finally go on over somebody's head at the State Department? "We do not contemplate and we are not about to recognize either of these entities or areas as independent states," he said. Oh. Nevermind... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-09-26 09:52 |