Puntland leaders angry over “King Kong” representation

The Puntland regional administration is angry over the election of King Kong - “a prominent Somali cultural leader” - as a spokesman for the Darod, reports the Puntland newspaper ‘Sahan’, monitored by the BBC.

Puntland vice-president Mohammad Abdi Hashi is in Djibouti for the talks, and contacted the Puntland administration from Djibouti to claim the Djibouti government “did not recognise the election of King Kong”, reports the paper. The vice-president also complained about the accommodation at the Djibouti talks and claimed he would like to return home, but did not have the means to do so, said the report.

The Mujerten clan are a branch of the Darod, whose civic leaders are attending the talks in Djibouti. Controversy over the election comes because the Puntland vice-president, attending the talks, will be under pressure by the Puntland administration to represent political leaders, while the Djibouti talks are focusing on traditional and civic leaders.

Meanwhile, President of Puntland regional state, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf, met in Garowe with the chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, Hassan Muhammad Nur, “Shaat Gadud”, and the chairman of the Somali Patriotic Movement, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and warned that the Djibouti conference “could result in renewed fighting”, reports ‘Xog-Ogaal’ newspaper. The political leaders said regional governments should be established in Somalia before the Djibouti peace talks were held. They said regional governments could then form a central government, reports ‘Xog-Ogaal’. The three discussed forming an alliance to cooperate in political and economic issues, said the report.