Tuesday, November 27, 2012
By ABDULKADIR KHALIF
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud of Somalia left Mogadishu for Djibouti on Monday.
In his first official visit outside Somalia, he met with President Ismael Omar Ghelleh of the host country.
“The new government in Somalia offers the nation a fresh opportunity, leading to the stabilisation of the country,” remarked President Ghelle.
He urged President Mohamoud to push for the changes he promised during the election campaign in August and September.
Somali President thanked Djibouti for it’s role in the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
The Somali leader is also scheduled to visit Ethiopia and Kenya.
Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti all sent troops to Somalia to help in the security stabilisation.
Meanwhile, authorities in Puntland, a semiautonomous state in north-eastern Somalia, accused Somaliland, a separatist republic in north western, of expanding its rule into areas disputed by the two neighbouring administrations.
Mr Mohamoud Aideed Dirir, the Puntland minister for Information, held a press conference in Garowe town, the capital of Puntland, 1,000km northeast of Mogadishu, stating that forces belonging to Somaliland were deployed to more territories under the control of Puntland.
“We condemn the incursion of Somaliland forces into Huddun and Dhahar districts respectively in Sool and Sanaag regions,” stated Mr Dirir.
The official reiterated that Puntland would not tolerate aggression from Somaliland.
“Somaliland has been engaged in land grab ever since Puntland was formed in 1998,” said the information minister.