Somalia

Somalia, Somaliland leaders meet in Ethiopia

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:04 pm

President of Somalia and its semi-autonomous region, Somaliland met in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in what is the first major face-to-face talks between their leaders.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo arrived in Addis Ababa last weeked to attend the 33rd African Union Summit whiles Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi also arrived on Sunday.

A reliable source as saying that the two leaders met in the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s office. Abiy’s office has yet to confirm that a meeting of the sort happened and under what terms.

“It is not yet clear which points were discussed. Reports say the meeting lasted from 40 minutes to an hour,” the report added.

The meeting involved the respective leaders and their delegations. This is the first time that Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Muse Bihi Abdi have met. Talks between Somalia and Somaliland have been delayed several times.

The most concrete instance of a meeting was last year when the two leaders visited Ethiopia around the same time but a meeting failed to materialize as was widely speculated at the time.