MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
June 12, 2017 at 2:35 pm
Somali President, Mohammed Abdullah
Farmajo, has been offered $80 million in exchange for his agreement to
sever diplomatic relations with the State of Qatar, the New Khalij news outlet reported a prominent journalist has revealed.
“After two hours of enticement, Farmajo rejected the tempting offer,” journalist Jaber Al-Harimi said.
Yesterday, the newspaper Somalia Today
quoted unnamed sources saying “there was pressure put on the Somali
government by Saudi Arabia to reverse Somalia’s decision to stay neutral
in the siege imposed by some Arab governments on the State of Qatar.”
The sources confirmed that Saudi Arabia
threatened to withdraw financial aid to the Somali government unless
Somalia change its neutral stand in which it has called for an end to
the political dispute between Qatar and the other Arab nations through dialogue via Islamic organisations like the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).
The sources added that “ministers of the
Somali government returned from Saudi Arabia after meetings with their
counterpart were unexpectedly postponed.” It is understood that the
rulers of the UAE, with the knowledge of Saudi Arabia, have already
sought to persuade Farmajo, who won the presidency despite opposition
from the UAE, to change his position.
Sources close to Mogadishu and Abu Dhabi, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, explained to the New Khalij
that the rulers of the UAE, in particular the Crown Prince of Abu
Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed, would have preferred the former president,
Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, to remain in power, especially because of the
concessions that the UAE were given by Mahmoud, including contracts for
the unfettered access and management of a number of Somali ports that
would have provided the UAE with an important strategic position in
trading across the world. The new Somali President, Farmajo, has vowed
to reverse a number of agreements, some of which have been described as
“illegal”.
Also arriving yesterday in the Somali
capital were a Qatari delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Sultan Bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, to hold talks between the Gulf
States and officials of the Somali Federal government. According to
sources, the Qatari delegation met with the Somali Prime Minister, Hasan
Ali Khairi, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and are
also expected to meet Farmajo.
The Qatari delegation praised the
non-aligned stance taken by government towards the Gulf countries and
encouraged Somali leaders to maintain their stance against the embargo
on Qatar at any cost.
Somalia allowed Qatar the use of its airspace
to break the no fly restriction imposed by the Arab countries. “At
least 15 Qatari planes flew through Somali Airspace on the first day of
the blockade on Qatar,” the Associated Press quoted an official with the aviation authority as saying.Read more: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170612-somalia-turns-down-80m-to-cut-ties-with-qatar/
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