Hargeysa, Somaliland, February 10, 2007 (SL Times) – The main opposition party chairman Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud (Sillanyo) returned home after spending six months in Britain.

In a press conference he held at the VIP room of the Egal international airport he appealed to the International Community to recognize Somaliland Republic and to play a role in resolving the conflict between Somaliland and Somalia.

"While I was abroad, I heard that the international community is saying the issue between Somaliland and Somalia should be solved by the two of them on their own. The international community didn't leave Somalia alone. On the contrary, they interfered and sent troops, air force, and now foreign peacekeepers are expected to arrive. For that reason, we are calling on the international community not to leave the issue of Somaliland to be resolved by Somaliland and Somalia alone but they have to get involved and mediate between the two sides so they can separate peacefully,” Sillanyo said.

Mr. Sillanyo also stated that the detention of Haatuf Journalists is illegal and a violation of their rights as defined in the national constitution and Somaliland's press law.

"You know that Amnesty International and the former President of USA, Jimmy Carter, wrote a letter of complaint about the detention of Haatuf Journalists and appealed to Somaliland president to release them. Besides begin unlawful, the detention of the journalists has damaged Somaliland’s reputation on human rights, undermined Somaliland's credibility in the eyes of the international community and hurt our efforts toward gaining recognition,” Sillanyo added.

Mr. Sillanyo who lost the April 2003 presidential election by only 80 votes, stated that the National Election Commission (NEC) members were selected in an unfair manner.

"Earlier, when NEC members were selected, there were no political parties, but there were political organizations, and whenever competition takes place, there are stakeholders and there should be referees who judge between the stakeholders. Today, the issue is different from earlier selection of the NEC members, more advice was needed as well as respect for the opposition's suggestion. The number of the NEC should have also been increased. Also, since we have got many elections and the former NEC members had experience, it would have been better to keep some of them. Most importantly, the new commission does not include a single woman. We have to pay attention to issues of region and gender.”

Source: Somaliland Times

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