Somaliland has accused Somalia of being a stumbling block to the mediation process between the two countries.
Yesterday, Somaliland President Muse Bihi said that whereas his country had honored previous invitation to talks, Somalia had maintained a hardline position, insisting that they will only attend mediation talks organized by either Turkey or Qatar.
He said “It seems Somalia is not ready for talks. But we are ready”.
The Africa Union had slated 19th March 2019 for talks in the Ghana capital Accra but it seems Somalia is not keen on attending.
Last month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reached out to the two countries in a bid to thaw their diplomatic relationship characterized by bad blood, but Somalia again snubbed the meeting, despite both countries’ delegations having arrived in Adis Ababa.
Of the more than two years of President Mohamed Farmajo’s term of office, he has not publicly declared an interest in mending fences with its former union partner.
And Somalia opposition leader Abdirahman Abdishakur urged the government to attend the talks and listen to Somaliland, arguing that President Framajo should take the issue seriously.
The Somalia-Somaliland talks collapsed several times after the two sides tabled hard conditions.
Somaliland declared independence in 1991 from Somalia after it accused the government of late Mohamed SiyadBarre’s military of carrying out atrocities against people in northern Somalia (now Somaliland).
Villa Somalia has remained tight-lipped over its intentions.
