Qatar has pledged to continue support for the stability and sovereignty of Somalia amid heightened tensions between the East African country and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a party to the Saudi-led quartet of Doha’s boycotters.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who held talks Monday with visiting Somali President Mohammad Abdullahi, said the relationship between Doha and Mogadishu were based on “brotherhood and mutual respect.”
“Qatar will continue to support the unity, stability, sovereignty and well-being of the people of Somalia,” Sheikh Tamim said in a tweet following the meeting.
Earlier this month, a Qatari official told Reuters that Doha had provided $385 million in infrastructure, education and humanitarian aid to the Somali government.
The Monday meeting, which is the third in less than a year, comes at a particularly sensitive time when Mogadishu abandoned a military deal with Abu Dhabi and seized millions of dollars from an Emirati plane.
Last month, an Emirati plane was grounded in the African country for several hours after UAE officials refused to allow the search of suspicious luggage.
Emirati military trainers were held for hours at Bosaso International Airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland, as they refused to allow security forces to check their suspiciously “heavy” luggage.
In an earlier incident, the Somali federal government had confiscated nearly 10 million dollars from a UAE Royal Jet at the Mogadishu International Airport.
