puntland

When he went south, he took with him a lot of Puntland troops, vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

Puntland's sense of identity is less strong; it has seen itself as a building block for a future federal Somalia.

The money saved, he says, from naval vessels ceasing to plough the seas would be enough to build a civil infrastructure in Puntland.

Somalia was not always a hotbed of piracy. Its main industry in the Puntland region where the pirates have their hub, was fishing.

He ran Puntland with authority and ambition, grandiosely hoping to turn it into the Horn of Africa's Dubai.

Then, in 1998, the neighbouring region on Somalia's northeastern tip, known as Puntland, also seceded and declared itself independent.

Galkayo is in the centre of Somalia, near the states of Hobyo and Puntland, and also near Ethiopia.

A still worse headache for Puntland is the departure of its strongman, Abdullahi Yusuf, to become president of Somalia.

The Puntland region has enjoyed relative peace and even prosperity, when compared to the war-torn south.

The agency says more girls should be in school, that need exists in all of Somalia, not just Puntland and Somaliland.

The key, therefore, lies in breakaway Puntland in the north, where nearly all the piracy originates.

Exploration rights in Puntland have been sold several times over.

Puntland used to catch 2, 000 tonnes of these each year.

Mr Gedi has also refused to endorse exploration deals signed by Puntland's government.

One based in the town in Puntland, the northeast autonomous region of Somalia, the town of Eyl.

Or pillage it: "Where there is money, there is funny, " says Abdiwahid Hersi, the director of Puntland fisheries.

Range Resources estimates that Puntland has the potential to yield 5bn-10bn barrels of oil.

Several jailed pirates have accused Mr. Muse, a former warlord who is now Puntland's president, of being paid off.

"We can't survive off this, " said Bile Qabowsade, a Puntland official.