Somalia Attempts to Mend Uganda Relations After Reported Dispute: Sources
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia’s federal authorities pushed for an official stopover in Uganda for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud during his recent regional swing, but the bid stalled amid a reported rift between the two heads of state, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Insiders at Villa Somalia said the planned visit was to be part of President Hassan’s tour of nations that contribute troops to Somalia, a diplomatic push aimed at showcasing regional backing and cushioning the fallout from Washington’s decision to halt funding for foreign forces deployed in the country.
Relations between President Hassan and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni soured after a May 10 meeting, the sources said, during which Museveni urged the Somali leader to open dialogue with opposition figures and offered to help broker an electoral understanding ahead of the political transition.
Museveni attended the meeting with his son, Uganda’s military chief, the sources added. Members of the Somali federal delegation reportedly dismissed the suggestion, a response that angered both Museveni and his son.
Since then, two of President Hassan’s most influential advisers, along with a senior federal minister seen as close to him, have tried to patch up relations with Kampala, the sources said. Those efforts have yet to yield a breakthrough.
Neither the Somali presidency nor the Ugandan government has issued public statements on the reported back-channel diplomacy or the alleged dispute.
AXADLETM
