The breakaway region of Somaliland on Saturday issued a statement in reaction to Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre’s Friday speech about the Berbera port deal signed in UAE.
Speaking at a press conference held in Hargeisa, Somaliland Minister for Information Mr. Abdirahman Abdullahi Farah said that Somaliland is an independent country.
“Although the Republic of Somaliland is not recognized, the existing reality which the world is aware that the Somaliland people have regained their sovereignty cannot be denied,” Mr. Farah said.
“This is proofed by the agreement signed with the Republic of Somaliland in the United Arab Emirates while Prime Minister Hassan Kheyre is there,” Mr. Farah said teasingly.
Mr. Farah urged PM Kheyre to first work on bringing together the people of Mogadishu.
“Before he speaks about the dream of unity of Somalia, it is better he unifies the districts within Mogadishu which he doesn’t control,” he said.
“Lastly, we expect that the East African governments will welcome that development agreement which has a lot of benefits,” Farah concluded.
On Friday, Mr. Kheyre termed the $1Bn deal signed by Somaliland, UAE’s DP World and Ethiopia as illegal on grounds that the federal government of Somalia was not consulted.
Somaliland has declared itself as an autonomous state in 1991 after the fall of Somalia’s central government headed by the late Mohamed Siyad Barre.
