Bartamaha(HARGEISA):-Presidential elections in the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland began peacefully on Saturday after multiple delays in the last two years.

The rest of the Horn of Africa state has been gripped by violence for almost two decades and the latest government is wrestling to overcome near-daily attacks by Islamist rebel groups bent on ousting i

The violence, mostly between government troops and al Qaeda’s proxy in the region known as al Shabaab, has killed at least 21,000 people and uprooted another 1.5 million from their homes.

 

The former British colony of Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognised internationally as a sovereign state despite its relative stability and the establishment of democratic institutions.

The elections in the region have been postponed three times since 2008 due to disputes over the number of registered voters.

“I am very happy that we are voting democratically and I hope that the election will end peacefully,” President Dahir Rayale Kahin told reporters after casting his vote.

Al Shabaab’s reclusive leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Sheik Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr, urged Somalis to reject “the Devil’s principles” of democracy, just several days ahead of the Somaliland elections.

Al Shabaab hit Somaliland and the semi-autonomous Puntland region with synchronised suicide blasts that killed at least 24 people in October 2008.

 

Despite the threat of violence from the south spreading into their region, most Somaliland citizens are united in their desire for recognition as a separate state.

 

“I call on them to respect the basic human rights of the people of Somaliland. We have a map and I hope that we will realize this (recognition) within one year,” said Feisal Ali Warabe, presidential candidate for the opposition Justice and Welfare party.

Source: Reuters

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Nairobo-Kenya.

 

 

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