to : — The Editor , The Times

Sir , Britain sending troops to Somalia and possibly opening our Embassy there ( instead of it being located in Nairobi ) is reported today 7 February by your Defence Correspondent , Mr Tom Coghlan . Your readers connect the country of Somalia with piracy and insurgency for the past decades . What is not reported is the secure and peaceful Republic of Somaliland of four million inhabitants whose ancestors were loyal seamen and soldiers for our country from before 1880 . Somaliland is one of the African countries of the best governance .

Somaliland had a “” trial union “” with Somalia ( the former colony of Italy ) from independence on 1 July1960 until 1991 , when Somaliland reverted to her sovereignty of 26 June 1960 on the ending of The British Somaliland Protectorate . During the period of de-colonisation various trial unions were tested , most of which failed , such as the trial union of Egypt and Syria ( called The United Arab Republic ) which lasted for only two years . Jamaica , Malawi and Singapore also ended trial union with their neighbours . Somaliland ‘s success needs our re-recognition with Sovereignty again

Toby Kenyon