Somalia - The North/Somaliland

In October 1994, fighting broke out between President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, who is supported by the Habir Awal, Gadabursi and Saad Musi clans, and the Idegale militia, who are aligned with the Habir Younis. Normally, a peaceful area, the fighting quickly sent 150,000 refugees fleeing from the capital of Hargeisa. The Idegale make a little folding money by controlling the airport and charging a tax on all who use it. The government muscled in, and that's when the fighting started.

The Habir Younis (now remember, they support the Idegale Militia) appealed to Aideed and were sent a plane full of rifles and ammo. Egal (the guy who runs the country) called Ali Mahdi Mohamed (Aideed's enemy in the south) and received a nice letter in return but no guns. So Egal hit up his buddies, the North Koreans, and then got busy fighting. The fighting spread to the Garhadjis (a subclan of the Idegale and Egal in Burca, Sheikh and Burao). The government forces didn't do so well, so now the Garhadji militias have most of the government weapons in their possession. To make things more complicated, Egal does not have support from the majority of people but is pushing for an independent Somaliland. His opponents want to join up with Somalia. His predecessor, President Abdurahman Tur of the Habir Younis clan, was voted out and is now hanging out in Mogadishu under the protection of Aideed Jr.

Even though Egal has done a good job of whipping Somaliland (not Somalia) into fiscal and governmental shape, not one Western country will recognize its sovereignty. Go figure. Okay, now who's ready for a pop quiz on Somalia politics?

SomalilandNet

http://www.compmore.net/~hersi/index.html