Somalia: U.S. Congressman rejects to meet with Somaliland official
25 Jul 25, 2009 - 9:15:29 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. July 25 U.S. Congressman Donald Payne has refused to meet with an official from the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, inside sources tell Garowe Online.
Mr. Abdullahi Mohamed Du'ale, Somaliland's foreign minister, was recently in Washington, D.C., and asked to meet with the U.S. Congressman but he was "rejected" on at least three separate occasions, the sources added.
Congressman Payne, who chairs the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, organized a Congressional hearing on Somalia and invited officials from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu, and the self-governing regions of Somaliland and Puntland.
The June 25 hearing in Washington, D.C., was attended by Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole" and a Somali Embassy official read a statement on behalf of TFG Foreign Minister Abdullahi Oomar.
But Somaliland Foreign Minister Du'ale, who initially accepted to attend the congressional hearing, canceled at the last minute after demanding a "separate panel" to focus on Somaliland's separatist agenda.
This demand was rejected by Congressman Payne and the hearing's organizers, who forwarded the argument that "common issues" were covered at the hearing, namely humanitarian aid delivery, the counterterrorism effort and the anti-piracy campaign.
Meanwhile, Somaliland opposition parties have accused President Dahir Riyale's administration of failing to take advantage of a venue in Washington, D.C., to present Somaliland's case for independence.
President Riyale continues to face domestic pressure and international criticism, including charges that the Somaliland administration has violated press freedoms by arresting two radio journalists and shutting down an independent television station this month.
Somaliland, comprised of regions in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally declared independence from the rest of the Horn of Africa country in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.
