HARGEISA, SOMALILAND, 7 August 2014 (IRIN) - The proposed deployment of armed contingents to protect oil installations in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland risks further destabilizing a region rife with disputes over sovereignty, boundaries and oil concessions.

Security is deemed necessary for seismic exploration in areas of Somaliland thought to contain significant quantities of oil, some of which are also claimed by neighbouring Puntland, an autonomous region which, unlike Somaliland, still regards itself a part of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Who exactly would control and manage such armed contingents and what their precise mandate would be, have yet to be determined. Since Somaliland’s independence is unrecognized internationally, the territory remains subject to a UN arms embargo, which means it would need to ... Read more »

Air France-KLM Group (AF) and Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) would suffer most from curbs on flights across Siberia in retaliation for European Union sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, an analysis of networks shows.

Of the 1,600 flights operated by 39 carriers across the region east of the Ural mountains in the past week, about half were provided by 14 EU carriers, according to data supplied to Bloomberg News by aircraft-tracking service Flightradar24.

Operations between Europe and Japan, north-west China and South Korea are most exposed, according to the data, which excludes services starting or ending in Russia. Air France and KLM had 249 flights over Siberia last week, including routes linking Paris with Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan in China, while Lufthansa to ... Read more »