Puntland conference approves charter

The conference of the representatives of the constituent regions of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, has approved the Puntland charter, and is now drawing to a close, Puntland's "acting president", Yusuf Haji Nur, has told IRIN. The Puntland general congress, which opened on 26 August in Garowe, the regional capital, was due to have ended on 1 October, but was suspended several times for various reasons. The conference had been struggling in the past few days to resolve differences within one of the sub-clans participating, a local journalist told IRIN. Some of the delegates of the Dulbahante sub-clans of the main Harti clan had been questioning the legal status of 15 of their members, he said. "It looks likely that the problem will be resolved today," he said on Thursday. According to this source, inasmuch as the charter had been approved, "only the election of the president, vice-president and parliament remains", which should not take very long. "I expect the conference to wind up by next week" and a new Puntland administration to be in place by then, said Yusuf Haji.