FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ministry of Information, Communication, Culture and Heritage

Government of Puntland

Tel : +252 90 794315/ +252 90 397794

E-mail : info@puntland-gov.net

Reference is made to a New York Times article (“Somalia Food Aid Bypasses Needy, UN Study Finds”) published on 9 March 2010, whereby the renowned U.S.-based newspaper cited a still-secret report drafted by the U.N. Monitoring Group regarding a number of

issues in Somalia.

According to the Times article, the U.N. report alleges that the President of Puntland had “extensive ties to pirates in the area, who then funneled some of the money they made from hijacking ships to authorities’’.

The above is a huge nonsensical accusation; a feeble attempt to defame the president that requires to be proven.  

The Government of Puntland has not received a copy of this U.N. report yet, but the Government’s position on piracy has remained consistently clear since the election of the current government.

To highlight our commitment to combat and eradicate the scourge of piracy, the President of Puntland H.E. Abdirahman M. Farole declared a campaign against all forms of piracy throughout Puntland territory.   The President underscored this state policy in a U.S. Congressional hearing in June 2009.   

The incumbent Puntland Government has arrested a large number of pirates; so far, 154 have been convicted and are serving long sentences in correctional facilities across Puntland, while 50 more are waiting for trial. Furthermore, Puntland police units continuously raid suspected pirate hideouts in major towns often leading to more arrests and the confiscation of weapons, ladders and communications gear used by pirate gangs.

The incumbent administration ensures the coverage of the above-mentioned anti-piracy efforts in both local and international media; the last such coverage was as recent as the 9 th    day of March 2010.

The Government also sponsors a social campaign designed to discredit piracy and the proceeds of the loot of the pirates also forbidden by Islamic law. Puntland’s Islamic scholars and community activists are leading this social campaign to prove that pirates have brought nothing except cultural, social and religious degradation to the Somali society.

These efforts to combat pirate gangs on land have yielded success. Puntland can proudly claim that the culture of piracy is universally rejected throughout Puntland and that caused many of the pirates to move away from Puntland territory.

Our anti-piracy partnerships cooperation with NATO alliance (EURONAVFOR) is well known among leading nations such us USA, France, Spain and Britain, as well as the international media. Therefore, we strongly condemn the piracy activity, not only in Somalia but also all over the world. At the same time, we strongly condemn this baseless allegation, which is a politically motivated slander and defamation of Puntland and its leadership.   We believe that these derogatory remarks are made by certain elements in the IMG who have accustomed to do these shameful allegations in other organizations in the past but now have infiltrated this UN mission (International Monitoring Group).

We finally request that the President of the Security Council, in the event that the accusations contained in the leaked report is authentic, to send a fact finding mission to conduct an independent and thorough investigation of these unprecedented accusations.

We demand that the Security Council hold the authors of these fallacious accusations accountable for their actions.   We expect from the international body (UN) not to tolerate impunity within their own organizations.