\n<\/p>\n
Mogadishu accuses Abu Dhabi of undermining national unity as rift deepens over breakaway regions<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Somalia has severed all agreements with the United Arab Emirates, annulling deals spanning key port operations, security cooperation and defence, citing \u201charmful actions\u201d that undermine the country\u2019s unity and sovereignty.<\/p>\n After the Council of Ministers announced the decision on Monday, Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi said in a post on X that the move was based on \u201creliable reports and evidence indicating practices linked to the United Arab Emirates that undermine the sovereignty of the Somali Republic, its national unity and political independence\u201d.<\/p>\n list of 2 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n There was no immediate comment from the UAE.<\/p>\n Somalia\u2019s announcement appears to be linked to Israel\u2019s recognition in December of Somaliland, a self-declared independent region in northwestern Somalia that broke away in 1991 but lacks international recognition, said Abdinor Dahir, an independent Somalia analyst.<\/p>\n \u201cMany Somalis believe the UAE facilitated Israel\u2019s recognition of Somaliland,\u201d Dahir told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Somali cabinet\u2019s decision [to cancel agreements] is therefore widely seen as a pushback against the UAE, which is accused of backing non-state actors and separatist forces in Africa, including the [paramilitary] RSF in Sudan,\u201d Dahir said.<\/p>\n Abu Dhabi has long denied accusations that it is arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in its war with Sudan\u2019s military rulers.<\/p>\n While the UAE declined to sign a joint Arab-Islamic statement in December condemning Israel\u2019s recognition of Somaliland, on January 7 it released a joint statement with the African Union pledging \u201csupport for Somalia\u2019s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability\u201d.<\/p>\n Somaliland, which has declared independence from Somalia, has over the past decade emerged as a key hub for Emirati commercial and security investment, including a 30-year concession at the strategic Berbera port held by the UAE company DP World.<\/p>\n A government source close to the decision told Al Jazeera there was anger in Mogadishu at the UAE consolidating influence in Somalia\u2019s breakaway and autonomous regions.<\/p>\n The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a US-based think tank, estimates UAE investments across East Africa at roughly $47bn, representing 60 percent of all Gulf capital inflows into the region.<\/p>\n Somalia\u2019s move also comes days after reports that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the south Yemeni separatist group the Southern Transitional Council, travelled to the UAE via Berbera port in Somaliland on January 8 after rejecting Saudi calls to attend talks in Riyadh.<\/p>\n Somalia\u2019s immigration authority subsequently announced an investigation into what it described as the \u201cunauthorised use of Somalia\u2019s national airspace and airports\u201d.<\/p>\n Somalia operates a federal system that grants member states significant autonomy, so it is not clear if they will abide by Monday\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n Two states, Puntland and Jubaland, which have close ties to the UAE, have recently been in a dispute with the federal government over constitutional changes they oppose and issues surrounding the conduct of Somalia\u2019s upcoming elections.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Somaliland\u2019s Minister of the Presidency Khadar Hussein Abdi dismissed Mogadishu\u2019s authority.<\/p>\n \u201cSomalia\u2019s daydreaming changes nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UAE is a trusted friend of Somaliland. They invested in Berbera when others doubted us. We are a nation of principles, and we stand by our friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mogadishu accuses Abu Dhabi of undermining national unity as rift deepens over breakaway regions Somalia has severed all agreements with the United Arab Emirates, annulling deals spanning key port operations, security cooperation and defence, citing \u201charmful actions\u201d that undermine the country\u2019s unity and sovereignty. After the Council of Ministers announced the decision on Monday, Defence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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