- As patriotic Somailander, I have no doubt that the upcoming conference on so called Somalia scheduled to be held in London come seven May is solely designed to undermine the hard won independence of my beloved country of the Republic of Somaliland, at a time when my nation fulfilled every norm and requirement stipulated by the international law in order to win political recognition which should have been a matter of formality in the case of our republic of Somaliland, in the light of the historical fact that Somaliland was a separate country, which gained independence from Britain on June 26 1960 and was independent for brief period during which Somaliland was recognized by more than 36 states.
Compare that to the fact that South Sudan which declared itself as sovereign state in 2011, was an integral part of the Sudan at the time of independence from Britain on 1st January 1956.
The union between British Somaliland and Italian Somalia was never ratified by the legislative houses of the two nations which merged on 1st July 1961; therefore that legal was/ is illegal. Soon after the unification, Somalilanders realized that they are treated as second class citizens. And in 1964 they supported the first war of resistence against the hegomony of Somalia.
Although that armed resistance lasted only for few days in 1964, the level of resentment among Somalilanders continued to grow. And when, in 1969, Muhammad Ibrahim Igaal, a fellow politician from Somaliland became the prime minister of Somalia, a group of military generals from South Somalia led by Siyaad Barre could not tolerate that, and soon staged a coup in that same year.
Siyaad Barre’s regime carried out even harsher policies of suppression and isolation against the majority clan of Isaaq (Sheikh Isxaaq Bin Ahmed Bin Abdullah) of Somaliland economically, politically, socially, and even culturally. but the worst was yet to come.
Early the eighties of last centuray, and in response to twenty years of marginalization and depriviation at evey aspect of life, the great Isaaq nation of Somaliland (Reer-Somaliland) decided to put an end to the Somali occupation of Somaliland. The SNM (Somaliland National Movement) was the became the orginaziation which led the war of liberation of Somaliland against the military presence of Siyaad Barres regime, which enjoyed the backing of many western countries such as the US, which supplied his regime with all kinds of advanced weapons and military training.
This is in addition to the massive military backing the regime of Siyaad Barre regularly received from the regime of apartheid of South Africa, who provided Siyaad Barre with air power consisted of more than twenty fighter jets and dozens of mercenary pilots.
The war of liberation of Somaliland lasted ten years (1981-1991). The patriotic nation of Isaaq who supported the SNM from the beginning of the armed struggle to the very end, raised to the occasion at every stage of the war for the independence of their homeland though they were confronted with the full power of the mighty military machine of Somalia, mercenaries from abroad, and thousands of clan-based para-military contigents, which commited genocides and all kinds of crime against humanity, yet in 1991 the SNM finally defeated the Somali military regime and declared victory an an end to the war of liberation of Somaliland.
But unlike the Hawiye clan in central and south Somalia, the Isaaq people refrained from taking revenge on the small numbers of minority clans of Somaliland who supported Siyaad Barre regime. Instead the elders organized series of successful conferences of national reconciliations.
Unlike Somalia, Somaliland, thanks to patriotic and nobel Somalilanders, is a free country with vibrant society, and well-established parliamentary institutions. The Somaliland experience in both war and peace is a home made one. Close to half a million martyers all from the nation of Isaaq lost their lives in the war of liberation of Somaliland against the Somali occupation.
In view of all that tragedic experience Somalilanders had gone through to finally liberate themselves and their country from Somalia, I call upon the nation of Isaaq of Somaliland to oppose by all means possible the socalled London Conference on Somalia due to be held in the UK in May 2013 because it is ment to undermine the independence and statehood of Somaliland. In that context, all omalilanders and in Europe and beyond need to come to Brussels to take part in the massive demonstration in front of the European Parliament on 11 April 2013 in support for the just cause of Somaliland of re-recognition.
I also call upon the European Union and the international community to grant the Republic of Somaliland the long overdue political re-recognition
Saleh Ali
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