There are inaccuracies, contradictions and omissions in International Crisis Group's policy briefing on Punltand, writes Liban Ahmad who read it closely.

Two weeks ago Puntland celebrated the 11th anniversary under a new administration that took office in January.The president of Puntland, Abdirahman Mohamud Farole campaigned on a reform ticket to tackle piracy and security problems in the autonomous region established in 1998.

International Crisis Group Policy briefing, The Trouble with Puntland contains facts, half-truths and contradictions. The briefing dwells on touch on Puntland's "decline", highlights efforts by the new administration to combat piracy and "criminal gangs" but argues "these measures alone are likely not enough, however, to cope with an entrenched criminal enterprise."

ICG criticises, among other issues, efforts by Puntland leadership to implement " a new constitution", and the failure to make use of "consensual style of politics that once underpinned a relative stability."

How can Puntland arrest the "decline" and attendant problems? ICG's prescription is clear: "Puntland needs to return to its original consensual style of politics" but in the same briefing ICG argues that the Harti elders were cowed into accepting the election that made Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed the first president of Somalia in 1998 because the "Elders from the two clans [ Dhulbahante and Warsangali ] knew the consequences of challenging the SSDF."

Somali Salvation Democratic Front was the first armed opposition group against the former Said Barre regime, and was headed by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. When the military regime fell, and different parts of Somalia were ruled by armed opposition groups who had a role, in one way or another, in toppling the military dictatorship United Somali Congress, Somali National Movement and Somali Patriotic Movement -- pro-SSDF political and traditional leaders in Mudug, Nugaal and Bari regions agreed to bestow the status of representative organisation on SSDF because the first three reconciliation conferences for Somalis -- 1991, 1993 and 1998 sponsored by Djibouti, Ethiopia and Egypt respectively --were based on the reasoning that it is more practical and pragmatic to bring together armed organisations representing clans than involving people from different regions of Somalia who had no role in the rise of warlordism.

The establishment of Puntland had led to disbanding of SSDF militias just as the establishment of Somaliland had led to dismantling Somali National Movement and decommissioning local militias . Had Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed not sacrificed SSDF for setting up Puntland, his Harti-based approach to forming an autonomous region would not have born fruits .

Relations between Puntland and the TFG

According to ICG, "... the government of Puntland operates wholly autonomously of the Transitional Federal Government. Transitional Federal Government President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and his cabinet ministers have no direct authority in Puntland, which, in its old and new constitution, retains the right to negotiate its status with the "federal" government of Somalia. [Puntland] Leaders are increasingly antagonistic to the south and the government there. They are seeking international aid without coordinating,"

On the night Puntland was observing 11th anniversary celebrations in Garowe, the Somali president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed , made a short, telephone speech for people celebrating the occasion.

The TFG facing a host problems ranging from insurgency to squabbling and bloated parliament that prevent it from promoting and developing 'State Governments, Regional and District Administrations subject to legislation and guidelines of the Federal Constitution Commission on the formation of Transitional Federal Government.'

Concentrating resources and powers in a weak federal government at the expense of regional administrations is an approach that will prove a stumbling block to efforts to restore popular trust in government institutions for Somalis. " Within the Somali sociopolitical context there are hardly any countervailing structures or institutions capable of preventing the repetition of a monopolistic appropriation of power," argued Martin Doornbos.

In southern Somalia there is an autonomy deficit: both Somaliland and Puntland have experimented with self-rule. The diversity blessing in the south--different clan families who share no genealogy--has been undermined because southern Somalia's clans who are not associated with the toppling of Siad Barre regime were marginalised by clans and sub-clans with clan affiliation to armed oppositio groups. This is partly why Islamist movements have emerged in southern Somalia.

ICG views on Sool and Sanaag territorial dispute between Puntland and Somaliland are worth quoting: "Both need to start immediate talks with the traditional authorities in Sool and Sanaag to find a peaceful solution If necessary, they should seek external third-party arbitration to settle the dispute over status and ownership.

"This position contradicts the position of the ICG took in Somaliland: Time for African Union Leadership published in 2006. "The AU should assign Somaliland an interim status analogous to the observer status it has granted 31 non-African states, or the status of the Palestinian Authority at the UN. Somaliland's application for membership gives the AU an opportunity to prevent a deeply rooted dispute from evolving into an open conflict," ICG argued in Somaliland: Time for African Union Leadership.

There are omissions in 'The Trouble with Puntland'. On the situation in Galkacyo, the ICG briefing paints the following sketchy picture: " Galkacyo is divided into two clan sectors - the north for the Majerten, the south for the Sa'ad. Clan militias have clashed repeatedly in and around Galkacyo in the past five years."

Galmudug administration rules south Galkacyo. In 1993 the late General Mohamed Farrah Aidid and Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed , then Chairman of Emergencies in Mudug, Nugaal and Bari regions, signed a peace agreement that led to Sa'ad and Omar Mohamud sub-clans to co-exist peacefully in the administrative capital of Mudug region. Both sub-clans are still committed to the Mudug Agreement. In the briefing no mention is made of the large number of internally displaced people (IDPs) who moved to Puntland because of hostilities in the south. Rigorous fact-checking and thorough research could have eliminated inaccuracies, contradictions and omissions in ICG's policy briefing on Puntland.

Liban Ahmad writes news analyses for Garowe Online.