HARGEISA– The President of the republic of Somaliland, His Excellency Musa Bihi Abdi on Tuesday leading a high powered delegation flied to UAE on his first working visit since his election to the presidency.
The president and his delegation boarded a plane that the UAE sent after extending an official invitation to the president. Before the president departed from Egal airport, the minister for water resources, Hon. Suleiman Yusuf Ali Koore. The minister has confirmed to the local media that the president’s visit to the UAE came after receiving a formal invitation from Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, is the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The minister is hopeful that the discussions between the the UAE with Somaliland president will bear fruit.
The delegation led by the president is accompanied by the foreign minister, Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire, Planning minister, Hon. Awale Ibrahim Shirwa, the water affairs minister, Mr. Suleiman Yusuf Ali and the main opposition leader of Justice and Welfare party Hon. Faisal Ali Warabe.
It is now seen that Somalia’s relations with the UAE has strained amid disagreement of the tripartite deal signed among the Dubai Based firm (DPW), Somaliland and Ethiopia to jointly invest the port of Berbera. Somalia Federal Govt rejected the deal and said that it undermined the integrity of Somalia.