Oil-Rich Somalia Region Elects Leader Amid Tensions

  • Puntland known as haven for pirates, Islamic State militants
  • Mogadishu trying to assert control over breakaway Somaliland.
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Puntland, an oil-rich, semi-autonomous territory in eastern Somalia, will select a new president on Jan. 8 in a parliamentary vote that comes as Mogadishu is seized with trying to assert its control over the breakaway region of Somaliland.

The next leader of Puntland, long known as a haven for pirates and Islamic State militants, will be chosen by 66 lawmakers at a meeting in Garowe, the regional capital.