Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi used his address on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, at George Washington University to argue for international recognition of the Republic of Somaliland, highlighting its relative peace in a turbulent Horn of Africa.
Abdi is on a tour of the US to meet government officials and businesses to pitch for Somaliland’s independence from the rest of Somalia.
He said the main aim of his trip was to “explain to the people of the United States…their intellectuals, their politicians and their leaders about the case of Somaliland”.
“Our main goal is to get recognition from the international community,” he added.
Somaliland leader, however, added that Somaliland was aware that it would not gain recognition as an independent republic in a “few days”.
“But we believe that every long journey starts with one step,” he said.
Somaliland was briefly independent after British colonial rule ended in 1960, joined almost immediately into a union with Italian-administered Somaliland to form Somali Republic, then unilaterally restored its independence three decades later.
