UAE

MOGADISHU — Somalia’s foreign minister said the United Arab Emirates has halted its security assistance to the Horn of Africa nation after Mogadishu formally withdrew from bilateral agreements with Abu Dhabi. Foreign Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali told reporters the Emirati program had focused on Somalia’s military and security institutions and no longer had a legal or political framework after the government’s move to scrap the pacts. “Most of the support provided by the UAE was concentrated in the security sector. Since the…

Erdogan heads to UAE, Ethiopia as Turkey presses Gaza cease-fire and backs Somalia’s unity Turkey sharpens Gulf trade push while asserting influence in the Horn of Africa amid tensions over North Western State of Somalia recognition Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 MOGADISHU — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to visit the United Arab Emirates on Monday before traveling to Ethiopia on Tuesday, with Gaza and Somalia’s territorial integrity expected to anchor a two-stop tour aimed at entwining economic outreach with…

Hargeisa (AX) — The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee has voiced sharp concern over reports that a United Arab Emirates–linked training center has been established in Ethiopia for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, with potential supply routes running through North Western State of Somalia’s Port of Berbera. In a post on X on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Risch described the RSF as “genocidal RSF thugs” and warned that alleged training and transit activity tied to the UAE would be “escalatory and further reason to…

Egypt’s Sisi heads to UAE after talks with Somali leader in Cairo CAIRO — Egypt’s presidency said President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is traveling to the United Arab Emirates for a fraternal visit to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with talks focused on developments in the Horn of Africa. The trip comes shortly after al-Sisi hosted Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Cairo, underscoring how shifting alignments in the Horn are drawing intensified attention from key Arab and African partners. In a…

ALGIERS — Algeria has begun the process of terminating its air services agreement with the United Arab Emirates, a bilateral aviation pact signed in Abu Dhabi in May 2013 and ratified the following year, state media said Saturday. Algeria’s state-owned radio said authorities had “initiated procedures to terminate the air services agreement with the United Arab Emirates, signed in Abu Dhabi on 13 May 2013 and ratified by a presidential decree dated 30 December 2014.” The broadcaster cited Article 22 of the accord, which…

North Western State of Somalia leader departs for UAE, seeks deeper ties as regional stakes rise HARGEISA, Somalia — North Western State of Somalia President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, left for the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday at the head of a high-level delegation that includes cabinet ministers and senior advisers, his office said, in a visit aimed at deepening economic and political ties with Abu Dhabi. Abdullahi is traveling at the formal invitation of the UAE government and is expected to attend a…

MOGADISHU — Somalia has canceled its defense and security agreements with the United Arab Emirates, a move the government said Friday was necessary to protect the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and public safety while keeping broader diplomatic ties intact. Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Daud Aweys Jama said the termination applies strictly to military and security cooperation frameworks between Mogadishu and Abu Dhabi. He argued the arrangements had become more harmful than helpful to Somalia’s…

Russia refuses to drop its demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the eastern Donbas, hardening a core territorial red line hours before three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States in the United Arab Emirates. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said territory remains the decisive issue and will be on the table in Abu Dhabi, where the delegations are expected to hold the first direct public negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow over a plan pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year war.…

NEW DELHI/DUBAI — India signed a $3 billion liquefied natural gas supply deal with the United Arab Emirates on Monday, elevating India to the UAE’s top customer and deepening ties as the two countries pledged to expand trade and pursue a strategic defense partnership. Under the agreement, Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC Gas will supply 0.5 million metric tons of LNG annually to Hindustan Petroleum Corp. for 10 years. ADNOC Gas said the contract lifts the total value of its agreements with Indian buyers to more than $20 billion,…

LAS ANOD, Somalia — Senior traditional elders from the Darood community on Tuesday endorsed the Somali federal government’s decision to cancel security and port agreements with the United Arab Emirates, accusing Abu Dhabi of undermining the country’s unity, sovereignty and national independence. The position, announced after a large gathering of clan leaders in Las Anod, came as the elders convened to witness the inauguration of Abdulqadir Ahmed Aw-Ali, known as Firdhiye, as president of Somalia’s Northeastern Regional…