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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

SOMALIA: Think tank favours recognition of Somaliland

NAIROBI, 29 July 2003 (IRIN) - The demand of the self-declared republic of Somaliland for recognition presents the international community with stark choices, says a report released this week by the Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG).

"The question confronting the international community is no longer whether Somaliland should be recognised as an independent state, but whether there remain any viable alternatives," the report said.

It added that the international community could either "develop pragmatic responses to Somaliland’s demand for self-determination or continue to insist upon the increasingly abstract notion of the unity and territorial integrity of the Somali Republic". It warned that the latter course was likely to lead to a new round of civil war in Somalia.

Somaliland, a former British protectorate, declared unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, but has received no international recognition.

The ICG report made a number of recommendations, including the dispatch of an international fact-finding mission to assess the Somaliland issue and "to recommend policy options". It also called on the African Union to consider a legal review of the territory's case and grant it "observer status pending a final decision on its international status".

[Full report available at:- www.crisisweb.org]

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance

[ENDS]

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