MOGADISHU, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has called for reunification of the Federal Republic of Somalia and Somaliland to help make the Horn of Africa nation a great country again.
Speaking during celebrations to mark the 57th independence anniversary of the northern regions late on Monday, Mohamed urged Somalis to put aside their differences and unite for the betterment of the present and future generations.
"I am urging our brothers in the northern regions (Somaliland), the youth, the elderly, men and women that it is our responsibility to regain our nationhood and unity of our country. We have to go beyond our recent painful and ugly history, to have a better future," he said in a statement released Tuesday by the Africa Union mission in Somalia.
Somaliland broke off from Somalia in 1991 following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime.
Mohamed noted that Somalia has had a chequered post-independence history, characterized by both prosperity and destruction, with the latter having devastating effects on the country, due to the prolonged civil war that lasted more than a decade.
President Mohamed has singled out security, famine and unity and reconciliation as his top priority issues in the next four years in office. There has been no response from Somaliland.
