Somalia
Somali president to visit Puntland: Report
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Jul 24, 2008 - 6:03:46 PM

BOSSASO, Somalia July 24 (Garowe Online) - Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf is scheduled to visit his home region of Puntland sometime next week, inside sources tell Garowe Online.

President Yusuf will hold private discussions with Gen. Adde Muse, the Puntland leader, during a trip to the port city of Bossaso.

Puntland leader Muse [left] and Somali President Yusuf

The leaders' upcoming discussions in Bossaso will be focused on oil deals Yusuf and Muse have supported separately in recent years.

According to Garowe Online sources, decisions reached at the upcoming talks between Yusuf and Muse "might change" the way federal and local officials have been pursuing the exploration of Somalia's unproven oil reserves since 2005.

In April, President Yusuf formally endorsed Puntland leader Muse's controversial exploration contract with Australian mining company Range Resources, Ltd.

Since its inception in mid-2005, the Puntland-Range oil deal has faced armed resistance from local clans and growing political pressure for President Muse to abandon the controversial deal.

The Puntland region is undergoing tremendous political, economic and security challenges and local lawmakers have accused the Muse administration of corruption and negligence.

Last night, a Bossaso businessman named Farah Daad Abdi was shot and killed by robbers who took his mobile phone, witnesses reported.

Local police have not arrested anyone for the murder, but police officials say the killing is part of a series of violent nighttime robberies in Bossaso in recent weeks.

Somali President Yusuf's upcoming visit to Puntland coincides with the traditional elders' appeal for a conference to 'save Puntland,' which is set to open in the regional capital Garowe on August 20. [ READ: Clan elders postpone 'save Puntland' conference]

Source: Garowe Online