The breakaway region of Somaliland said it has no plans to discuss unity with Somalia, appearing to contradict Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who said he would act as a “unification mediator” between the two governments.
Somaliland’s government declared autonomy from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for independence.
“Any dialogue that transpires between Somaliland and Somalia will not discuss unification, but rather how the two previously united countries can move forward separately,” Somaliland’s government said in a statement late on Sunday.
Somaliland, which has remained largely peaceful for over three decades while its neighbour has been convulsed by civil war, said it “has no plans for dialogue to discuss unity with Somalia.”
Some clan elders in disputed areas along Somaliland’s border with Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland state say they want to be part of Puntland rather than Somaliland.
Heavy fighting broke out between Somaliland forces and militiamen in and around the town of Las Anod in one such area in February.
More than 200,000 have been displaced since the conflict began and according to data Al Jazeera received from hospitals in Las Anod in May, around 300 people had died and 1,913 were injured.
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