SOMALIA: War of words continues between Puntland and Somaliland

NAIROBI, 13 January 2004 (IRIN) - The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have warned neighbouring Puntland to "stop playing with fire" and withdraw its forces from the disputed region of Sool, a senior Somaliland official told IRIN on Wednesday. Tension has been rising between the two sides ever since forces of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland took total control of the Sool regional capital, Las Anod, late last month. Abdillahi Muhammad Du'ale, the Somaliland information minister, told IRIN on Tuesday that Somaliland had been patient and had ignored numerous provocations from Puntland with a view to averting destabilising confrontations, but the situation had now "reached a point at which we can no longer ignore their actions". "The Majerteenia [Puntland] must remove their forces at once or take full responsibility for the consequences of their action," he warned. However, the Puntland spokesman, Awad Ahmad Ashara, told IRIN that "Puntland forces are within our borders, since Las Anod is an integral part of Puntland". He accused the Somaliland authorities of instigating the conflict, adding that the people of the area "do not consider themselves part of Somaliland". Sool and Sanaag regions fall geographically within the borders of pre-independence British Somaliland, but most of the clans there are associated with Puntland. These are the Warsangeli and the Dhulbahante, which, along with Majerteen - the main clan in Puntland - form the Harti sub-group of the Darood. Du'ale said Somaliland had been working since 1991 towards the achievement of a lasting peace "within the borders of the former British Protectorate" and had "been successful in reconciling the various clans." He charged that "continuous provocations" by Col Abdullahi Yusuf, Puntland's president, were meant to derail the "stability and the democratisation process and thwart the success story of Somaliland".