LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Somaliland: Puntland State
built 628 days ago
The first notable feature of Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital, is the vast number of blue plastic bags littering the fields outside the airport. They are the by-product of the Somalis’ pastime of chewing qat, a mild stimulant plant. Roadside vendors sell bunches for $1.50 a bag and customers then discard the packaging. It is one of the smaller problems Somaliland has to deal with on its way to becoming a functioning state.
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"We have evidence that the Riyale administration [in Somaliland] has allowed Gen Ade Muse to import 12 four-wheel-drive vehicles through the port of Berbera [in Somaliland], and that seven of them have already been turned into technicals [battle-wagons]," Abdishakur told IRIN. He ... accused Somaliland of providing the anti-Puntland forces with 300 assorted small arms.
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Though not internationally recognised, Somaliland has a working political system, government institutions, a police force and its own currency. The territory has lobbied hard to win support for its claim to be a sovereign state.
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Previous skirmishes between the forces of Somaliland and Puntland in 2003 had not been decisive with little change on the ground. However, favourable conditions for an assault on Lascanod had been presenting itself during this year. Firstly, the government of Puntland had been bankrupted by its shamelessly corrupt and incompetent leaders who only distinguished themselves in emptying the treasury, leaving many government employees including the defence forces unpaid for months. Secondly, and far more damaging for Sool, was that most of the defending Darwiish forcres stationed at Adhi Cadeeye were taken to Mogadishu to defend the TFG. There was hardly any credible force left to defend Lascanod and this explains the easy, almost unopposed, capture of the city.
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More than anything else, Somaliland needs allies, but it is difficult to imagine where they would come from. In mid-October, Hargeisa sent out feelers to the Arab states, which desire to contain Ethiopia, requesting that they open diplomatic offices in Somaliland as a stepping stone to recognition by the African Union and United Nations. Thus far, the initiative has not borne fruit, but it shows a direction that Hargeisa is likely to try to take.
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For good reasons, Somaliland did not initially rush to use its military muscle in the SSC regions. Instead, it relied on a softly-softly wait and see strategy to co-opt these recalcitrant regions. But it was the creation of Puntland, encompassing all the Harti clans in the NW and NE regions, which alarmed Somaliland and forced it to bring its militia to Adhe Cadhe, just outside Lascanod.
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Puntland State