Foreign relations of Somalia

Foreign relations of Somalia are handled primarily by the President as the head of state, Prime Minister as the head of government, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Transitional Federal Government.

Transitional Federal Government representatives for foreign affairs

* Aden Hashi Abdulle (Howle) is the current Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs.
* Ismail Qasim Naji - Ambassador to Oman, appointed February 10, 2007cite news
title=Somalia’s army commander sacked as new ambassadors are appointed
url=http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne2279.htm
date=2007-02-10
publisher=Shabelle Media Network
accessdate=2007-02-10]
* Mohammed Ali America - Ambassador to Kenya, appointed February 10, 2007cite news
title=Somalia’s army commander sacked as new ambassadors are appointed
url=http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne2279.htm
date=2007-02-10
publisher=Shabelle Media Network
accessdate=2007-02-10]
* Hassan Mohammed Siad Barre - Ambassador to Yemen, appointed February 10, 2007cite news
title=Somalia’s army commander sacked as new ambassadors are appointed
url=http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne2279.htm
date=2007-02-10
publisher=Shabelle Media Network
accessdate=2007-02-10]
* Muse Hirsi Fahiye - Ambassador to Djibouti, appointed February 10, 2007cite news
title=Somalia’s army commander sacked as new ambassadors are appointed
url=http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne2279.htm
date=2007-02-10
publisher=Shabelle Media Network
accessdate=2007-02-10]

Disputes

Somalia's only major international dispute is with Ethiopia over the Ogaden. Most of the southern half of the boundary is a Provisional Administrative Line.

A goal of Somali nationalism is to unite the other Somali-inhabited territories in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti into a pan-Somali Greater Somalia. This issue has been a major cause of past crises between Somalia and its neighbors. The Islamic Courts Union was a proponent of Greater Somalia, whereas the TFG administration has tried to alleviate such concerns.

Expatriate Community

The status of expatriate Somalis has been an important foreign and domestic issue.

In April 2005, Saudi Arabia beheaded six Somali nationals for auto theft, causing tension between the two countries. Without a government however, Somalia couldn't intervene on behalf of its citizens. Somalis all over the world have protested the Saudi action.

Current Relations

The current Transitional Federal Government has been accepted by the Arab League (AL), Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the African Union (AU), and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The IGAD and AU member states are presently considering a UN-sanctioned peacekeeping mission, IGASOM, to help stabilize Somalia.

Somalia is one of the few nations in the world not to have diplomatic relations with the United States.

In 2006, the United States took the lead in establishing the International Somalia Contact Group [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5085534.stm UN group backs Somalia government] , "BBC", 2006-06-15 ]

History

After independence in 1960, Somalia followed a foreign policy of nonalignment. It received major economic assistance from the United States, Italy, and the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as from the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.

In 1963, Somalia severed diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom for a period following a dispute over Kenya's northeastern region (Northern Frontier District), an area inhabited mainly by Somalis. Somalia urged self-determination for the people of the area, while Kenya refused to consider any steps that might threaten its territorial integrity. Related problems have arisen from the boundary with Ethiopia and the large-scale migrations of Somali nomads between Ethiopia and Somalia.

During the regime of Siad Barre, he at first was closely aligned with the Soviet Union but lost support after the 1977–78 Ogaden War, when the Soviet Union and Cuba backed the Communist Derg of Ethiopia.

In the aftermath of the Ogaden war, the Government of Somalia continued to call for self-determination for ethnic Somalis living in the Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia. At the March 1983 Nonaligned Movement summit in New Delhi, President Siad Barre stated that Somalia harbored no expansionist aims and was willing to negotiate with Ethiopia.

Since the fall of the Barre regime in 1991, the foreign policy of the various entities in Somalia has centered on gaining international recognition, winning international support for national reconciliation, and obtaining international economic assistance. However, many of those goals were upset by the failure and ultimate withdrawal of the UN missions to Somalia 1992–1995. No power in Somalia was seen as holding the sovereign authority over the state, and thus, foreign relations on a formal basis were untenable.

The self-declared but unrecognized state of Somaliland and the autonomous state of Puntland have sought to develop international relationships of their own. Somaliland, which has operated independently since 1991, specifically seeks recognition in the UN, AU, and other international organizations, as well as the ability to develop formal bilateral diplomatic and economic relations. [ [http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=5375 Somaliland: Recognition & Development - Convention in Washingto] ]

Arab countries

The government also sought ties with many Arab countries. Somalia has a long history of cultural, religious, and trade ties with the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula, which lies across the Gulf of Aden. Although Somalis ethnically are not Arabs, they identify more with Arabs than with their fellow Africans. Thus it was not surprising when Somalia joined the League of Arab States (Arab League) in 1974, becoming the first non-Arab member of that organization. Initially, Somalia tended to support those Arab countries such as Algeria, Iraq, and Libya that opposed United States policies in the Middle East. After its defeat in the Ogaden War, the Siad Barre regime aligned its policies more closely with those of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, both of these countries began to provide military aid to Somalia. Other Arab states, in particular Libya, angered Siad Barre by supporting Ethiopia. In 1981 Somalia broke diplomatic relations with Libya, claiming that Libyan leader Muammar al Qadhafi was supporting the SSDF and the nascent SNM. Relations were not restored until 1985.

Throughout the 1980s, Somalia became increasingly dependent upon economic aid from the conservative, wealthy oil-exporting states of Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. This dependence was a crucial factor in the Siad Barre regime's decision to side with the United States-led coalition of Arab states that opposed Iraq following that country's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Support for the coalition brought economic dividends: Qatar canceled further repayment of all principal and interest on outstanding loans, and Saudi Arabia offered Somalia a US$70 million grant and promised to sell it oil at below prevailing international market prices. [http://countrystudies.us/somalia/79.htm]

See also

*Diplomatic missions of Somalia

Notes and references