Somalia cancels all agreements with UAE over alleged sovereignty violations

Mogadishu accuses Abu Dhabi of undermining nationalist unity arsenic rift deepens implicit breakaway regions

Somalia has severed each agreements with the United Arab Emirates, annulling deals spanning cardinal larboard operations, information practice and defence, citing “harmful actions” that undermine the country’s unity and sovereignty.

After the Council of Ministers announced the determination connected Monday, Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi said successful a station connected X that the determination was based connected “reliable reports and grounds indicating practices linked to the United Arab Emirates that undermine the sovereignty of the Somali Republic, its nationalist unity and governmental independence”.

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There was nary contiguous remark from the UAE.

Somalia’s announcement appears to beryllium linked to Israel’s recognition successful December of Somaliland, a self-declared autarkic portion successful northwestern Somalia that broke distant successful 1991 but lacks planetary recognition, said Abdinor Dahir, an autarkic Somalia analyst.

“Many Somalis judge the UAE facilitated Israel’s designation of Somaliland,” Dahir told Al Jazeera.

“The Somali cabinet’s determination [to cancel agreements] is truthful wide seen arsenic a pushback against the UAE, which is accused of backing non-state actors and separatist forces successful Africa, including the [paramilitary] RSF successful Sudan,” Dahir said.

Abu Dhabi has agelong denied accusations that it is arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) successful its warfare with Sudan’s subject rulers.

While the UAE declined to motion a associated Arab-Islamic connection successful December condemning Israel’s designation of Somaliland, connected January 7 it released a associated connection with the African Union pledging “support for Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, information and stability”.

Somaliland, which has declared independency from Somalia, has implicit the past decennary emerged arsenic a cardinal hub for Emirati commercialized and information investment, including a 30-year concession astatine the strategical Berbera larboard held by the UAE institution DP World.

A authorities root adjacent to the determination told Al Jazeera determination was choler successful Mogadishu astatine the UAE consolidating power successful Somalia’s breakaway and autonomous regions.

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a US-based deliberation tank, estimates UAE investments crossed East Africa astatine astir $47bn, representing 60 percent of each Gulf superior inflows into the region.

Somalia’s determination besides comes days aft reports that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, person of the southbound Yemeni separatist radical the Southern Transitional Council, travelled to the UAE via Berbera larboard successful Somaliland connected January 8 aft rejecting Saudi calls to be talks successful Riyadh.

Somalia’s migration authorization subsequently announced an probe into what it described arsenic the “unauthorised usage of Somalia’s nationalist airspace and airports”.

Somalia operates a national strategy that grants subordinate states important autonomy, truthful it is not wide if they volition abide by Monday’s decision.

Two states, Puntland and Jubaland, which person adjacent ties to the UAE, person precocious been successful a quality with the national authorities implicit law changes they reason and issues surrounding the behaviour of Somalia’s upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, Somaliland’s Minister of the Presidency Khadar Hussein Abdi dismissed Mogadishu’s authority.

“Somalia’s daydreaming changes nothing,” helium said.

“The UAE is simply a trusted person of Somaliland. They invested successful Berbera erstwhile others doubted us. We are a federation of principles, and we basal by our friends.”