LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Somaliland: Eastern Somaliland
built 612 days ago
An issue that has a direct bearing on Somaliland's ability to attract international recognition is neighboring Puntland's claim to most of Sool and Sanaag Regions, a claim that Somaliland rejects. In 1998, the Harti leaders of northern Somalia and eastern Somaliland declared Puntland an autonomous republic within a federal Somalia. Unlike the leaders in Somaliland, they decided not to opt for independence and oppose the independence of Somaliland. Puntland's boundaries correspond to those areas where the Harti, a subgroup of the larger Darod clan, reside. The Majerteen, a subset of the Harti, predominate in that part of Puntland known as northern Somalia, which borders Somaliland. Two additional Harti subsets, the Warsangeli and the Dulbahante, reside inside that part of Somaliland claimed by Puntland.
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If Somaliland has gambled on a quick victory to capture ill-defended Lasanod, it has certainly succeeded in that gamble. But what does that patently empty victory amount to? Little or nothing. Lascanod, though important as the capital of Sool, only represents a small proportion of SSC in terms of towns, land area and population. Much of Sool, the entire Cayn and Eastern Sanaag are outside Somaliland’s control. The occupiers, coming far away from a bankrupt administration, largely funded by collections from the Isaaq Diaspora, are not the USA or Israel who can sustain the occupation in a hostile large territory beyond a very limited period.
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While Somaliland has had a stable government since rival clans put aside their factional differences in 1997, the rest of the country - formerly Italian Somaliland - has been in the hands of a range of tribal and factional groups. The only other region with a working administration, Somaliland's eastern neighbour Puntland... boycotted the Djibouti talks.
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Eastern Somaliland (composed essentially of present day Sool and Sanaag regions) was affected relatively little by the livestock export boom. Nomadic pastoralism has historically been the predominant social and economic mode in eastern Somaliland, but the area has ... evolved somewhat separately of the central economic zone between Hargeysa, Berbera and Burco. Sanaag region has long maintained independent, sometimes clandestine, trade ties with the Arabian countries, especially Yemen. Export of livestock and frankincense in exchange for consumer goods from the Arabian side evolved into a strong commercial and cultural relationship of central importance to Sanaag’s social and economic life. Further south, the inhabitants of Sool region long ago developed a niche as an economic and social gateway between Somaliland and Somalia - a role the region still plays.
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The unionist lobby, a small but vocal minority in Somaliland, has spurned the electoral process in order to deny it legitimacy. This has repeatedly prevented polls being held in the troubled eastern districts that are ... claimed by the neighbouring Puntland State of Somalia - a region that seeks a united Somali state based on a model of clan-based federalism.
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On 21 January 2004, Boqor Osman Mohamoud, a traditional leader from Eastern Somaliland, was arrested and charged with spreading false information through newspaper reports. This information allegedly included a report that neighboring Djibouti had provided arms, including landmines, to a faction opposed to Puntland’s leader and that these arms had transited through Somaliland.[13]
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Eastern Somaliland