Somali President Visits City Claimed by Breakaway Region

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Friday visited a provincial capital claimed by the breakaway region of Somaliland — the first visit there by a sitting president in over 40 years. The visit to Las Anod, the administrative capital of the Sool region, comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa after Israel officially recognised Somaliland, drawing strong opposition from Mogadishu. Mohamud was attending the inauguration of the president of the newly created Northeast State, which became Somalia’s sixth federal state in August. It was the first visit by a Somali president since 1984. Somalia is a federation of semi-autonomous states, some of which have fraught relations with the central government in Mogadishu. The Northeast State comprises the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all territories Somaliland claims as integral to its borders. (AFP)