SOMALILAND PRESIDENT HIGHLIGHTS COUNTER-TERRORISM

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000068

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF AND AF/E
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER
CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2032
TAGS: PREL PBTS PINR PTER SO ET DJ XA
SUBJECT: SOMALILAND PRESIDENT HIGHLIGHTS COUNTER-TERRORISM
COOPERATION

REF: ADDIS ABABA 60

Classified By: POLOFF ERIC WONG. REASONS: 1.4 (B),(C),(D).


1. (S) SUMMARY. In a January 9 meeting with Ambassador,
Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin appealed for
international recognition and support, highlighting
Somaliland's political progress and its commitment to
democracy and regional stability. Kahin, accompanied by
Finance Minister Hussein Ali Dualeh, asserted that
recognition of Somaliland would serve as a bulwark against
the emergence of expansionist Somali groups (like the CIC)
seeking to destabilize the Horn of Africa through the pursuit
of a "greater Somalia." Kahin asked that the USG support
efforts to seek recognition by African states, and noted that
Somaliland was actively lobbying east and west African
leaders. Kahin and Dualeh expressed concern that TFG
President Yusuf was failing to accommodate Hawiye, and that
disarmament in Somalia would not be possible unless all clans
were disarmed simultaneously and under international
supervision. Kahin and Dualeh warned that civil war would
ensue, if union with Somalia were imposed on Somaliland.
Citing the importance of bilateral relations with the United
States, President Kahin pledged to comply by "early February"
with a USG request to release a detained Somalilander, and
expressed interest in visiting Washington in March or April.
Kahin attributed tensions between Somaliland and Djibouti to
President Guelleh's concerns about commercial competition
between Djibouti and Berbera ports. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Ambassador and deputy pol-econ counselor met January 9
with Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin and Finance
Minister Amb. Hussein Ali Dualeh. Kahin said Somaliland was
"now in limbo" but deserved support from the international
community, due to its establishment of rule of law, good
governance and democracy, and commitment to
counter-terrorism. Those who failed to assist Somaliland
now, may regret the decision in the future, he warned.
Somaliland was "viable": its population of 3-4 million was
six times that of Djibouti. Reviewing Somaliland's political
history since independence in 1960, Kahin said Somaliland had
voluntarily initiated a union with southern Somalia in 1960,
and then chose to "withdraw from that failed union" in 1991,
a decision reaffirmed by the 1997 constitutional referendum
monitored by U.S. observers. Somaliland had established rule
of law and good governance: promoting reconciliation among
warring clans via the 1993 Borama conference, demobilizing
50,000 militia, establishing a bicameral parliament, and
holding national elections in 2003. Kahin said his
assumption of the presidency upon the death of Mohamed
Ibrahim Egal in 2002 had been a constitutional transition
nearly unparalleled in Africa. As a former British
protectorate, Somaliland's borders (unlike southern
Somalia's) were recognized by several international treaties.
Somaliland controlled its borders and prevented piracy in
the Gulf of Aden, but suffered with Ethiopia as the "first
victims" of instability in southern Somalia, he added.


3. (U) Recognizing that nations were built on principles and
beliefs, not just ethnicity, Somalilanders had sought to
break the "cycle of conflict" associated with the quest for
"a greater Somalia," Kahin said. Indeed, Somaliland, rather
than southern Somalia, had a greater historical affinity with
Ethiopia's Somali region, but had forsworn any such designs
in order to promote regional stability, Kahin said. Minister
Dualeh added that by dispelling the persistent "dream of
greater Somalia" espoused by the Council of Islamic Courts
(CIC) and other potential extremist groups, recognition of
Somaliland would promote the security of Ethiopia, Kenya, and
Somalia.


4. (C) Seeking Somaliland's recognition by the African Union,
Kahin said he had met with east African leaders (Ethiopia,
Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia); Somaliland Foreign
Minister Abdillahi Duale (reftel) was traveling to Ghana and
Togo in order to lobby west Africans. Kahin said UK
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Lord

SIPDIS
Triesman had agreed to push African states to recognize
Somaliland, and urged that the USG do the same.


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CONCERN ABOUT CIC THREAT BUT DISDAIN FOR TFG
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5. (C) As the situation in southern Somalia jeopardized
Somaliland's peace and stability, Somaliland was unrivaled in
its ability and motivation to monitor developments in
Mogadishu, Kahin said, where several terrorists detained in
Somaliland had organized. He noted that the CIC had publicly
targeted both himself and Finance Minister Dualeh for
assassination, as well as Transitional Federal Government of
Somalia (TFG) officials. While Somaliland had united warring
factions to rise out of anarchy, TFG President Yusuf was
incapable of reconciliation, Kahin said. The principal clash
in southern Somalia was between the Darod and Hawiye clans,
and others were ignored. Instead of appointing a Hawiye as
military chief, Yusuf had appointed police, military, and
intelligence chiefs solely from his Darod clan, prompting
disarmament to fail. Minister Dualeh observed that
disarmament would succeed only if all clans were disarmed
simultaneously, under international supervision; the UN
Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II) had failed in 1993 because
the Hawiye had felt they were being disarmed first. Hawiye
and Darod comprised 38 per cent and 18 per cent of the
population respectively in southern Somalia, Dualeh added.
Siad Barre, a Darod, had needed to break the Hawiye's
stranglehold on Mogadishu; Yusuf's failure to compromise with
other clans would render him "only a guest of the Hawiye,"
Dualeh said.


6. (C) Asked about Somaliland's relationship with the TFG,
Kahin responded that no agreement with Yusuf was possible so
long as Yusuf continued to lay claim to Somaliland. Noting
that 50,000 had died fighting for independence, Kahin
asserted that the only solution was co-existence: "Somalia
must be accepted as two entities, side-by-side; Somalia and
Somaliland." The TFG was "an insult" to the Somali people,
Kahin said, having failed to achieve anything, in contrast to
authorities in Somaliland. It was an injustice that
Somaliland remained a victim of "a failed state," Kahin said.
Ambassador Yamamoto observed that dialogue between the two
needed to precede any movement toward recognition. Minister
Dualeh recalled that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles had said
he had acceded to Eritrean independence in order to avoid
another 30 years of war; civil war among Somalis would result
if Somaliland were "forced into a union."

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COMMITTED TO COUNTER-TERRORISM COOPERATION
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7. (S/NF) Pres. Kahin underscored Somaliland's constitutional
commitment to combat terrorism, its security cooperation with
Yemen, and its ongoing trials of terrorists. The most
capable members of Somali intelligence had been
Somalilanders, he said, trained by the United States, Russia,
and Egypt. Somaliland was a "Muslim state that is willing to
fight fanatics," he added, citing examples of bilateral
cooperation with U.S. authorities. Kahin pledged to comply
by "early February" with a USG request to release a detained
Somalilander, as he did not wish the matter to be "an
obstacle in our relationship." Underscoring its sensitivity
and likely parliamentary concerns about its
constitutionality, Kahin said knowledge of the matter was
limited to himself, Finance Minister Dualeh, Foreign Minister
Duale, and Somaliland's intelligence chief. Noting his own
previous experience as a colonel in Somali intelligence,
Kahin asserted that the detainee was a terrorist who had
sought to overthrow the democratic order, by plotting to kill
Kahin and other Somaliland officials, and to assist the CIC.
Nevertheless, Kahin said, the detainee would be released,
perhaps via Addis Ababa, so long as he never returned to
Somaliland. Documents detailing the detainee's associations
would not appear in court, Kahin added. However, in return,
Somaliland sought aid from the USG: the United States
supported democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan; why not
Somaliland, Kahin asked.


8. (C) Amb. Yamamoto expressed appreciation for Somaliland's
cooperation, and observed that the USG had been working on

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how to support Somaliland since President Egal's 1999 visit
to the United States. Much of the USD 2-5 million in annual
USG aid to Somalia went to Somaliland, including support for
former Foreign Minister Edna Adan Ismail's hospital for
women, he added. Pres. Kahin said he would work with the USG
on a visit to the United States. He added he would plan to
do so in March or April, and would contact Amb. Yamamoto
regarding the modalities. Amb. Yamamoto expressed support
for Somaliland's representative in Washington, highlighting
that while a visit would be symbolic, substantive follow-up
discussions would be key.


9. (C) Pres. Kahin attributed tensions between Somaliland and
Djibouti to President Guelleh's concerns about commercial
competition between Djibouti and Berbera ports, noting that
he and Guelleh were family members, and that Djibouti and
Somaliland were comprised of the same clans. In response to
Kahin's request for assistance in improving port
infrastructure to handle nearly 2 million livestock exported
annually, Amb. Yamamoto noted that the USG could examine
addressing phytosanitary standards and improving facilities.


10. (SBU) BIO-NOTE: Finance Minister Hussein Ali Dualeh was
born in Hargeisa. Dualeh said that following military
training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he returned
to Somalia in 1960 and was arrested (and acquitted) with TFG
President Abdullahi Yusuf for participating in an abortive
1961 coup against Somaliland's union with Somalia. He later
served as Yusuf's deputy when Yusuf was deputy military
commander near Dolo. Dualeh served as President Said Barre's
ambassador in Uganda and Kenya in the 1970s.


11. (C) COMMENT: President Kahin and Finance Minister Dualeh
underscored Somaliland's desire to strengthen strategic ties
with the United States, consistent with previous statements
by Foreign Minister Abdillahi Duale (reftel). A Washington
visit by President Kahin provides an important opportunity to
consolidate relations with a pro-Western regime in the Horn
of Africa that not only seeks greater international
engagement, but also views itself as committed to democracy,
counter-terrorism, and combating radical Salafism. END
COMMENT.
YAMAMOTO