may be smashed tomorrow...3c, page-25

re: may be a scam? dr gedi agrees to the deal!!! Somalia: Rift over oil exploration in Puntland reportedly resolved

224 words
8 October 2005
03:38
BBC Monitoring Africa
English
(c) 2005 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.

Excerpt from report by Somali independent Shabeelle Media Network website on 7 October

A disagreement which has been going on between the Jowhar-based faction of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] and the [breakaway] Puntland administration, with regards to Puntland's decision to carry out oil exploration, is said to have been resolved.

A six-day meeting between TFG officials and some Puntland ministers was today concluded in Jowhar, HQ of the Middle Shabeelle Region. The meeting focused on how to resolve the rift which had cropped up between the TFG and Puntland on a [foreign] firm reportedly interested in oil exploration in Puntland regions.

In the end, the meeting was attended by the TFG prime minister, Prof [Ali Muhammad] Gedi, who stated that the disagreement has been sorted out. He said the issue was merely about how to reconcile some constitutional clauses on exploration and distribution of the Somali [mineral] resources in general and, in particular, an oil exploration deal signed between Puntland and foreign firms.

Mr Gedi underscored that the discussion has finally come to fruition, adding that the agreement would be included in what had already been agreed upon between Puntland and the oil drilling companies.