Hiiraan Online
Monday March 6, 2017
Mogadishu (HOL) - Officials from the United Arab Emirate Embassy in Somalia have said news that the ambassador to UAE has been recalled is false and inaccurate.
On Saturday, security experts and local radio in Somalia said that Mohamed Ahmed Othman Al Hammed, the UAE Ambassador has left the country after being recalled.
According to the embassy official, the Ambassador did board a flight out of Somalia to the UAE on Saturday but that it was a personal trip, and reiterated that it was not because of Somali-UAE relations. The official said that the bilateral relationship is healthy, highlighting that the ambassador was at the inauguration ceremony with full support from both nations.
A second call to the embassy in Mogadishu was made on Monday morning and the official HOL spoke with there said that she was not aware that the news had been circulating and dismissed the reports as “propaganda”.
Last week, Somali President visited Saudi Arabia on his first official state visit and the UAE-Somaliland base deal was one of the items Farmajo discussed with top leadership.
On February 12th, the Somaliland Parliament voted to allow the construction of a base in Berbera. Somalia objected almost immediately terming the conditions of the deal illegal and corrupt.
Somaliland is a self-declared state that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia.