Somaliland sides with Saudi and UAE in Qatar crisis, bars Qatar Airways from airspace

Women march on the streets of the capital Hargeisa to mark 25 years since the break-away nation claimed independence from Somalia.

HARGEISA—The Somaliland administration has announced Saturday that it would side with Saudi Arabia and the emirates in the latest Gulf crisis pitting the Qatari government.

Following an emergency meeting at the presidential palace, the foreign minister of the Mohamed Silanyo led government announced that Hargeisa will support the Saudi and UAE on stance on Qatar relations.

It was expected that Somaliland leaders would side with UAE given its relation with gulf nation.

The Federal government of Somalia has remained neutral in the crisis although there has been unconfirmed report that the Saudis pressured Mogadishu leaders to join in the Qatar isolation campaign.

AIRPSACE WAR

In the Saturday cabinet meeting, Qatar Airways was barred from using “Somaliland airspace.”

In a statement as part of the cabinet resolution, “As of today (10 June, 2017) no airline is allowed to use Somaliland airpace without the permission of the Government of Republic of Somaliland.”

“The republic of Somaliland is an independent country, not a federal state of Somalia. The government of Somalia cannot grant any permission to any county or country to use the Somaliland airspace,” Saad Ali Shire, the foreign minister said.

At the international stage, Somaliland is considered part of Somalia.

The parliament at Hargeisa has given the UAE military “unlimited access to the Berbera airport and leased part of the port in a 25 years agreement.