Mogadishu accuses Abu Dhabi of undermining nationwide unity as rift deepens over breakaway areas
Somalia has severed all agreements with the United Arab Emirates, annulling offers spanning key port operations, safety cooperation and defence, citing “dangerous actions” that undermine the nation’s unity and sovereignty.
After the Council of Ministers introduced the choice on Monday, Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi mentioned in a publish on X that the transfer was primarily based on “dependable experiences and proof indicating practices linked to the United Arab Emirates that undermine the sovereignty of the Somali Republic, its nationwide unity and political independence”.
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There was no rapid remark from the UAE.
Somalia’s announcement seems to be linked to Israel’s recognition in December of Somaliland, a self-declared impartial area in northwestern Somalia that broke away in 1991 however lacks worldwide recognition, mentioned Abdinor Dahir, an impartial Somalia analyst.
“Many Somalis imagine the UAE facilitated Israel’s recognition of Somaliland,” Dahir instructed Al Jazeera.
“The Somali cupboard’s resolution [to cancel agreements] is due to this fact broadly seen as a pushback towards the UAE, which is accused of backing non-state actors and separatist forces in Africa, together with the [paramilitary] RSF in Sudan,” Dahir mentioned.
Abu Dhabi has lengthy denied accusations that it’s arming the Speedy Assist Forces (RSF) in its warfare with Sudan’s navy rulers.
Whereas the UAE declined to signal a joint Arab-Islamic assertion in December condemning Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, on January 7 it launched a joint assertion with the African Union pledging “assist for Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, safety and stability”.
Somaliland, which has declared independence from Somalia, has over the previous decade emerged as a key hub for Emirati industrial and safety funding, together with a 30-year concession on the strategic Berbera port held by the UAE firm DP World.
A authorities supply near the choice instructed Al Jazeera there was anger in Mogadishu on the UAE consolidating affect in Somalia’s breakaway and autonomous areas.
The Africa Middle for Strategic Research, a US-based assume tank, estimates UAE investments throughout East Africa at roughly $47bn, representing 60 % of all Gulf capital inflows into the area.
Somalia’s transfer additionally comes days after reports that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, chief of the south Yemeni separatist group the Southern Transitional Council, travelled to the UAE through Berbera port in Somaliland on January 8 after rejecting Saudi calls to attend talks in Riyadh.
Somalia’s immigration authority subsequently introduced an investigation into what it described because the “unauthorised use of Somalia’s nationwide airspace and airports”.
Somalia operates a federal system that grants member states vital autonomy, so it isn’t clear if they’ll abide by Monday’s resolution.
Two states, Puntland and Jubaland, which have shut ties to the UAE, have lately been in a dispute with the federal authorities over constitutional modifications they oppose and points surrounding the conduct of Somalia’s upcoming elections.
In the meantime, Somaliland’s Minister of the Presidency Khadar Hussein Abdi dismissed Mogadishu’s authority.
“Somalia’s daydreaming modifications nothing,” he mentioned.
“The UAE is a trusted buddy of Somaliland. They invested in Berbera when others doubted us. We’re a nation of ideas, and we stand by our pals.”
