JB, I thought this issue was mitigated by this March story :
" , — March 21, 2012 1:08 — 1 Comment
Somaliland to Cede Disputed Territories to Puntland
Just hours ago in a phone call to our Nairobi contact, we were made aware of a groundbreaking piece of information that may change the landscape of Northern Somali politics. Somaliland’s president may cede key territories to Puntland in a deal over oil exploration.
In an exchange that would effectively give Puntland total control of the Nugaal Valley basin, we’ve heard from our network in Kenya that Somaliland’s president is in negotiations with the Puntland leadership to hand over the disputed Sool and Sanaag provinces to the authority in Garowe.
Currently, Puntland controls a small strip in eastern Sool as well as the eastern half of Sanaag Province. The rest of Sool is disputed by Somaliland and a new movement known as Khatumo, meanwhile the western half of Sanaag is ruled from Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland.
Puntland is currently well on its way to making progress towards the highly prospective Nugaal Valley basin, which is speculated to have billions of barrels of oil. Somaliland’s leadership is thought to have abandoned its hopes of exploring the volatile region, instead choosing to allow Puntland to finish the job in a deal that would distribute revenues to the regions of Somaliland. Puntland has stronger support from locals in the region due to clan ties, and will have an easier time delegating with locals on exploration goals.
This latest development stems from Somaliland’s recent reintegration into the Somali political process following the February 23 London Conference on Somalia. It’s a process that will soon see Somaliland presenting its own federal authority with which to take a role in the post-transitional Somalia. Furthermore, President Faroole of Puntland has made direct promises that oil revenues would be distributed to all of Somalia’s future federal states and the central government, easing worries that oil exploration would become a factional tool.
Since the spudding of the Shabeel-1 well, Puntland’s bravado and forwardness about its claim to the disputed Sool territories has grown much stronger in frequency. This latest line of information is coming from inside Somaliland.
Hirsi Fiqi, Editor
DissidentNation.com "
Red
