Addis Ababa, May 30, 2009 – The vice president of the Puntland Administration, General Abdisamad Ali Sharmarke led a delegation of Puntland officials to Addis Ababa where they held talks in which they discussed various issues with senior officials of the Ethiopian government.
The Vice President of the Puntland Administration held talks with Ethiopia Foreign Affairs Minister to discuss various issues among them relations between the Puntland Administration and Ethiopia, security in the Region, politics and the economics.
The Vice President also said Puntland administration is now stable and that the new administration has done a lot about the security situation in the Region. The Vice President also spoke on Sool Region whose ownership is being claimed by both Somaliland and the Puntland Administration saying that the current administration is following on the foot steps of the previous administration in their policies and believes the Sool Region is part of the Puntland Administration and wider Somalia and that it does not belong to the Somaliland administration.
Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Minister praised the Puntland Administration for the role that it has played in fighting terrorism in the Region and called upon civilians in the Region to work with the administration so that it can attain its goals.
The Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister said his government is ready to work with the Puntland Administration on areas of politics, security and the economy adding that Addis Ababa and Garowe are not able to do without each other. Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Minister also said his government and the Puntland administration will work together in further strengthening relations between the two administrations.
Also speaking on the situation in the disputed Region of Sool, the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister said his government will hold discussions with both administrations, Somaliland and Puntland, in trying to bringing them together in the negotiation table in order to resolve their differences through dialogue adding that fighting would not be a good solution and that if both administration engaged in fighting, groups that are opposed to the attainment of peace in Somalia would take advantage of the situation.
Discussions on the disputed Sool Region in Addis Ababa come at a time when the Puntland and Somaliland administrations have recently not spoken on the issue. The headquarters of Sool Region is currently under the control of Somaliland administration as their forces captured from the Puntland Administration two years ago. Some of the Puntland Administration officials who attended the meeting include senior officials of the armed forces and some members of the Puntland parliament.
Source: BBC Monitoring via COMTEX, 24 May 09







 

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