UAE wants Somalia to be like 'Yemen', 'Libya', alleges Somali Information Minister

Mogadishu: – A Somalian Minister has accused that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wants to make the situation in Somalia similar to Yemen and Libya and wants to create anarchy in the country. Violence has erupted in Somalia over elections, and the violence has grievously hurt many citizens. While expressing severe concerns over Somalia’s violence, the UAE had referred to the Somalian government as an interim government.

Last month, Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed had declared that elections would be held on the 8th of February. But the elections could not be held as he could not get all the political parties to concur. Forwarding this failure as a reason, some political parties in Somalia demanded that the President should resign. The military has been deployed in the country to contain the agitation that started after that.

The military is using force to suppress the agitation, and there were strong clashes between the protestors and the army. Five soldiers were killed in the clashes, and many protestors were injured. UAE, one of the major countries in the Gulf, reacted to the developments. UAE expressed concerns over the violence in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu. UAE also appealed that all the political parties should exhibit restraint for a stable future. In this statement, the UAE has referred to the Somalian government as an interim government.

A strong reaction has been received from Somalia over the reference. Somalian foreign department accused that a foreign government is spreading misinformation regarding the situation in the country and inciting a rebellion. Although the foreign department did not mention any names, the Somalian Information Minister directly indicated that the UAE has a hand in the violence in Somalia.

Somalian Information Minister Osman Dubbe accused, ‘The statement issued by UAE is inconsistent with the political framework on the international level. The UAE wants to create another Yemen and Libya in Somalia. UAE wants anarchy in Somalia.’ The Somalian Information Minister warned that the issue of elections is an internal matter of Somalia, and no other country has any authority to interfere in that.

The UAE’s statement and the accusations levelled by the Somalian Minister indicate that the tension between the countries will be heightened. UAE and Egypt are becoming restless, because of Qatar and Turkey’s increasing influence, in Somalia, for the last few years. It is believed that the Somalian government shut the UAE military base in the country, buckling under the pressure exerted by Qatar and Turkey. To counter that, UAE has started moves to sign an independent agreement with ‘Somaliland’, the autonomous province in Somalia, to build a port and base. This has offended the Somalian government, and they have started accusing the UAE of the violence and other problems in the country. Analysts claim that Somalia’s developments are pointing to the possible conflict in the Arab and Gulf countries for domination over the African countries.