Garowe — An official visit paid to the Gulf nation of Yemen by the President of Puntland State Government in Somalia Abdirahman Mohamed Farole annoyed the Mogadishu-based federal government, Garowe Online reports.
As the Yemeni government accorded a warm welcome to President Farole in Sana’a on September 25 on the latest stop of his five-country diplomatic tour, Federal Government of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his henchmen held an intense discussion at Villa Somalia in Mogadishu.
According to sources close to the Somali Federal Government, the debate on Farole’s Yemen trip on Saturday night brought together President Mohamud, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohamed Nur Gacal and Minister of Internal Affairs and National Security Abdikarin Hussein Guled who joined the group via telephone from Turkey.
The sources who declined to be named in print reported that Villa Somalia crew and President Mohamud revealed their dismay over the receiving protocol offered to Puntland President, comparing Farole’s visit to the Gulf nation with trip went out to Yemen by Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon in early September.
In accordance with a number of points which were jointly discussed during the closed-doors meeting, Federal Government of Somalia is said to have decided to lodge a complaint to Yemen’s Foreign Affairs ministry by highlighting in the complaint letter that Yemen erroneously signed an agreement with the absence of central government with Puntland in a bid to avert the bolstering bilateral ties between Puntland and Yemen.
The reliable sources in Mogadishu tell Garowe Online, besides the complaint letter the group also agreed on the isolation of Puntland from international conferences, the formation of unofficial committee aiming to run counter to Farole’s convincing political agendas in the upcoming presidential elections and to layout every means of meddling in Puntland affairs if the incumbent President, Abdirahman Farole return to power.
Puntland, located in northern Somalia and bordering Gulf of Aden forged growing ties of cooperation on counter-terrorism, anti-piracy and anti-smuggling operations with the Yemeni government.
In talks at Yemen Presidential Palace,Yemeni leaders including President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Prime Minister Mohamed Basindawa and President Farole expressed their delight with the consolidation of the two sides’ “friendly ties”.
Via: http://allafrica.com/
