In Somalia's break-away corner, an oasis of stability

In theory, Somaliland's experience – blending traditional sources of clan authority with elected governance – could serve as a model for Somalia itself, just as it has for the neighboring state of Puntland. But Mr. Jhazbhay says that in the past 18 years, Somalia and Somaliland have drifted apart. Many Somalilanders simply want to move on with their lives, he says, and their patience is running out. "After 18 years, you have a neglected state. You have a total decay of the infrastructure."

'De facto' state

With 3.5 million citizens and an economy based largely on livestock – much of it destined for markets on the Saudi Arabian peninsula – Somaliland was once a nation easily forgotten. But Somaliland's bid for recognition seems to be gathering steam. In the waning days of the Bush administration, then-undersecretary of state for Africa Jendayi Frazer visited Hargeisa. Somaliland officials were invited this month to an EU parliament conference on "de facto states."

Even the African Union, long wary of redrawing the boundaries of African nations, issued a report in 2005 arguing that recognition of Somaliland "should not be linked to the notion of "opening a pandora's box."

Islamists lay claim with bombs

There are those, of course, who are opposed to Somaliland independence. On Oct. 29, 2008, a young Islamist – a Somali-American from Minneapolis, named Shirwa Ahmed – drove a car packed with explosives into the Ethiopian Embassy in Hargeisa, killing 20 people. The attack, and four others set off simultaneously by a radical Islamist group called Al-Shabab, was viewed as a signal that Islamists were intent on creating a Greater Somalia, by force if necessary.

'We must go our own way'

Like many Somalilanders, Abdulkadir Hashi Elmi, a prominent businessman, views his country's independence as "irreversible."

"The people of Somalia and Puntland were colonized by the Italians, and during Italian rule they were trained to rule in the Italian way," he says with a wry smile.

But while Italian settlers profoundly changed Somali culture in Somalia itself, he says, Somaliland was left largely untouched during a period of British rule, because the British largely allowed clan elders to run their own affairs until independence in 1960.

"Somalia will be difficult for years to come, because now nothing is in their hands, it is in the hands of the warlords," says Mr. Elmi, who owns the Maan-Soor Hotel in Hargeisa. "Somalia doesn't have any hope to recover, not in our generation. That's why we must go our own way."

Abdaillahi Ismail Ali, Somaliland's interior minister, says that his country is happy to provide a model for its neighbors and to provide a forum for clan leaders in Somalia to resolve disputes the old-fashioned way, through consensus. But Somalia can forget about taking Somaliland back, he adds.

"We believe – every Somalilander believes – that we cannot be reunited with Somalia," he says. "We had hopes of making a Greater Somalia, but that dream died. We realized that whenever we try, we always get shot."

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