BAIDOA, Somalia Dec 21 - Natural resources found in Somalia do not belong to any single clan but must be shared nation-wide, a Somali federal government official said today.

Mohamud "Bekos" Abdi, petroleum and energy vice minister, told the Voice of America's Somali-language radio program that a national petroleum law is up for debate in parliament.

"The Petroleum Law drafted by the [former Prime Minister Ali Mohamed] Gedi government is currently in front of parliament for debate," Mr. Bekos said.

The Gedi-sponsored Petroleum Law widened a rift with President Abdullahi Yusuf and ultimately led to Gedi's resignation after a months-long feud with the aging Somali leader.

Mr. Bekos advised foreign companies with interest to explore in Somalia to go through the transitional federal government (TFG) and avoid being drawn into a legal tussle by signing with regional administrations.

"Foreign companies with exploration interest in Somalia must go through the federal government," he said, while underscoring that the regional governments can negotiate with the TFG over profit-sharing.

He said the Puntland regional government, on the northeastern tip of the country, is a big supporter of the TFG.

"If they [Puntland] say they want to do anything they like, then the region will become similar to regions where there is disorder," Vice Minister Bekos warned.

He took a jab at Puntland's single-clan political system, saying: " Somalia's resources do not belong to a single clan."

The Puntland government was created in 1998 by a coalition of Darod clans in the north, mainly by the Harti community to which President Yusuf belongs.

"We opposed the Petroleum Law drafted by Kuwait Energy and Indonesian Energy who did not consult with us and we were unaware of it," Mr. Alore said during the VOA interview.

He said the Puntland government welcomes Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein, the new Somali prime minister: "We will consult with the new Prime Minister as we did with the old Prime Minister."

But he maintained that Puntland has the right to explore and develop its own resources and claimed that there is "no opposition" to exploration in Puntland.

"There are no elders opposed to oil exploration. Unless we are confusing this [opposition] with an incident in Majiyahan [town] in April 2006," Mr. Aloore said, referring to deadly skirmishes between villagers and Puntland security forces protecting a team of foreign scientists in Sanaag region.

The Majiyahan skirmishes brought the world's attention to the dangers of exploration in Somalia, a country that has lacked an effective national government for the last 17 years.

Mr. Alore was confident that locals welcome efforts to explore and develop the region's resources, including tapping into its oil potential.

"The people will welcome exploration…Websites write meaningless talk," he said.

He said oil company executives have visited Puntland and have offices in the region, adding that drilling will begin at the beginning of 2008.

Federal government sources in the town of Baidoa, where the Somali parliament meets, privately told Garowe Online that they were surprised by Puntland's decision to create a ministry of petroleum at this time.

The sources suggested that the duties of the similar federal and state-level petroleum ministries might overlap and warned that Puntland's insistence on exploration might renew the constitutional dispute with the federal government.

In 2005, the Puntland leader inked a controversial agreement with Australia-based Range Resources, Ltd., giving the junior firm exclusive exploration rights in the region.

But the Puntland-Range deal has met a great deal of resistance, both from the federal government and from local clans, who feel alienated by the process.

Source: Garowe Online