Somaliland Rejects Mogadishu's Coastguard Deal, No UN Word on Arms Plane

By Matthew Russell Lee
Monday, August 12, 2013

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The government in Mogadishu has signed a contract with a European firm to set up a Somalia coast guard: Atlantic Marine and Offshore Group of the Netherlands.

Somaliland has responded by "reiterating that it does not recognize, and rejects outright, any attempt by the Federal Government of Somalia to control, regulate or seek to exercise Jurisdiction in the waters adjacent to the territory to Somaliland."

Where is the UN, its Mission and envoy Nicholas Kay in all this? It echoes the UN system's ham-handed attempt to give Somaliland's airspace back to Mogadishu, a move that led to the suspension of UN flight and was in essence reversed at the Somalia - Somaliland meetings in Turkey

Somaliland's new foreign minister Mohammed Bihi Yonis, formerly the UN's deputy enovy in Sudan, where Kay was the UK's ambassador, has said "the Government of the Republic of Somaliland looks forward to continuing the Dialogue on the basis laid out in the Ankara Communiqué."

Meanwhile it's worth noting that the UN's own Somalia Eritrea Monitoring Group most recent report, at page 328, cited

"training in Turkey of Somali cadets at military colleges, schools and academies, training for Gendarmerie and Coast Guard personnel, specialization courses (like “underwater attack”), and participation in joint exercises.. in the absence of notification from the supplying State, and in accordance with resolution 2093 (2013), the Monitoring Group expects in the future that the Federal Government of Somalia will notify the Committee, at least five days in advance, of any support and assistance supplied by the Government of Turkey to its security forces."

Of the Ethiopian plane full of weapons that burned in Mogadishu, Inner City Press on August 9 asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's associate spokesperson Farhan Haq if the UN's Somalia Eritrea Monitoring Group would be looking into it. Haq had no comment.

So far Nicholas Kay has offered condolence to Ethiopia and called it a "cargo plane." Then he and the Mission UNSOM moved on to promoting a video of his Eid greeting. What about Puntland, Jubaland, Somaliland?

What is the UN doing? In New York, UN Peacekeeping boss Herve Ladsous refused to answer Inner City Press' June 24 question about UN Mine Action Service cowboy in Mogadishu David Bax sharing genetic information with the US - then had spokesperson Kieran Dwyer spoon-feed it to another. The Free UN Coalition for Access will be working on this, amid anonymous pro-spoonfeeding trolls. Kay said it was a "question for New York." Indeed. Watch this site.

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