Editorial (Garowe-Online)

April 21, 2006

FOLLOWING ON THE HEELS of an article published by the Sydney Morning Herald on April 18th, Range Resources, Ltd., an Australia-based exploration company, announced today [Apr. 21] that they received a “letter of intent” from the Korean National Oil Company (KNOC) to partake in the research and development of northeastern Somalia’s potential oil and mineral reserves. This move, however, comes as the cloud of controversy over the legitimacy and legality of the “Puntland Agreement” has led to several skirmishes between the Puntland authorities and local clan militias opposed to exploration. Both Puntland and Range – signatories to the “Agreement – have continually dismissed press reports regarding deadly battles in villages less than 50 KM from the Red Sea port city of Bossaso. Is the risky business of exploring in anarchic Somalia risking the peace in Puntland?

Brief back story

Somalia is, according to analysts, the epitome of a “failed state.” The Horn of Africa nation of approximately 8 million people erupted in civil war after Somali rebel movements violently ousted the 21-year military dictatorship of General Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Widespread conflict, famine and virtual lawlessness gripped the nation, leading to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced peoples (IDPs) as well as a mass exodus to the Diaspora. The nation quickly transformed into a battleground between various warlords and military officers – reinforced and empowered by the Somali clan system – competing for land, resource and power, often through violent force. It led to one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history, prompting the international community, led by the United States, to respond in the early ‘90s with the humanitarian effort codenamed, “Operation Restore Hope.”

After the Americans and their multi-national partners retreated in 1995, however, Somalia noticeably withdrew from the international scene. Except for efforts heralded by Somalia’s immediate neighbors and regional powerbrokers to restore governance in the lawless nation, it seemed the world had, for the most part, forgotten about the tragic events that continued to evolve in the nation.

In the North, two regional administrations were established to return the semblance of law and order: Somaliland, which declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but is still unrecognized internationally, and Puntland, which was founded in 1998 on the principle of being a state within a federal Somalia. Garowe, the Puntland State capital, hosted the ‘98 Grand Conference in which the Somali clans and sub-clans that cohabit northeastern Somalia agreed on a power-sharing government with a unitary Parliament, a President supported by an executive Cabinet, an independent judiciary and a security apparatus to implement government decrees.

During its seven-plus year history, Puntland suffered an internal power struggle that had tremendous impact on the livelihoods of its citizenry and economic infrastructure, as well as its political formation. The region has not been fully democratized and has yet to mature beyond the clan-based system of governance. For example, seats in the Puntland Parliament and local District Councils are distributed not through a democratic vote but are allocated according to an ambiguous system of clan prominence, which, in Somalia, simply means the clans with more guns get more seats. It is a disheartening and unjust system that is at the root of the injustices evident at all spheres of the Puntland political formation.

Range enters Puntland

Mike Povey, executive chairman of Range Resources, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he “believes as few as 20 people in Puntland actually oppose the Range agreement.”1 In making this unfounded statement, Mr. Povey has two main objectives in mind: firstly, he wants to solidify his public relations campaign and, secondly, he wants to sell Range shares to potential investors by declaring that opposition to the Puntland-Range deal is too minimal for discussion.

But fighting between local Somali clans and the Puntland authority has been extensively reported by Somali news websites Garowe Online and Laas Qoray Net…and even the international news agency Reuters wrote an article on the conflict in late March.2 In the mountainous Majihaan region, local fighters took up arms to resist Puntland’s forceful attempts to bring Range teams into the area and explore its rumored mineral riches. Mohamud “Adde” Muse, the Puntland leader, sent two delegations to Sanaag region to negotiate with the fighters but both times the locals obligated Puntland to first remove its invading militas from the region before any peace talks could commence. Likewise in Buru’ village some 50 KM east of Bossaso, clan militias fought off a Puntland garrison shepherding a team of Range experts that wanted to collect data in the region.3

Is Mr. Povey wholly unaware of these violent developments or is he in total denial?

Furthermore, in early March, Range released a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange: from a company perspective, the statement read, “there is not…a ‘violent’ border dispute between Puntland and Somaliland.”4

Anyone familiar with Somali politics will tell you that two military forces currently stand guard at Ari’adeye, a small village in Sool region, which has become the focal point of the Puntland-Somaliland border conflict. The last round of warfare between the two sides led to over 100 deaths in a single day.5

Both sides claim legal ownership of Sool and Sanaag regions – and the standoff has not been resolved yet. Is the Company truly not aware of the “violent” border conflict between Puntland and Somaliland?

Risking the peace

The only part of anarchic Somalia where the rule of law has been successfully returned to is the northern portion of the Republic. “Somaliland” and “Puntland” – despite their ideological differences – have reinstated functioning governments in an erstwhile lawless nation.

With the emergence of the “Puntland Agreement” between the Puntland government and Range Resources, however, the risk of returning northern Somalia to chaos has never before been greater. Clan militias have been mobilized to oppose any exploration of various regions because the Puntland leadership failed to consult with the state Parliament and the local leadership before signing the unilateral “Agreement” with Range. Worse, both Puntland and Range have collaborated in a sinister plot to “silence” the opposition – through military force [in Majihaan, Buru’ villages] and by spreading disinformation through media outlets.

The choices – as well as their consequences – are clear: Puntland and Range will stop at nothing to explore the region’s potential oil and mineral reserves. The “Agreement” between the two parties has instigated a new type of conflict in Somalia: mineral wars. But clan militias – loyal to the land – have propped up in different parts of Puntland, sworn to defend their homeland with blood.

Therefore, we here on the Garowe Online Editorial Board request that the Korean National Oil Company – which sent the “letter of intent” to Range – carefully review the delicate issue at hand. And remember, Range’s involvement in Somalia’s intricate political affairs has already sparked the fire that could potentially devastate the entire region.

Read: '' No one killed in Puntland operations, Range insists''

Source : Garowe Online Editorial Board

Somaliland Times Editor's Desk Note_In solidarity with Garowe-Online in relation to the oppostion to Range Resources Ltd, we at S/land Times have posted the above Editorial article by Garowe-Online (21/04/06) in its entirety and should not be seen as endorsment of the entire article or its contents by Somaliland Times.