Somaliland sun-After the diplomatic snub (ION 1436), the Somaliland delegation’s visit to London turned into a disaster.Two days before President Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud Silanyo, and his eight ministers were due to return to Hargeisa on 17 October, the Minister of the Presidency, Mohamoud Hashi Abdi, was interviewed by HM Revenue & Customs. Mohamoud Hashi Abdi is a former aviation minister and was dubbed Osama by former President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal for his alleged links to Al Qaeda. The British government is particularly interested in his bank account registered in Dubai. According to our sources, the minister told the British tax authorities that there was about a million dollars in this account. The authorities were surprised that despite these assets, his wife lives in government subsidized housing. Even more since he owns a house in Birmingham valued $1.2 Million that he rents out and his daughter owns several luxury cars. During the interview, HM Revenue & Customs reportedly informed him that they would soon investigate the assets of certain members of the president’s family, including his son-inlaw, Bashe Awil Omar , who owns several properties in the UK and DubaiAllies in the president’s entourage Amina Mohamed Jirde, wife of President Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud known as Silanyo, has made Mohamoud Hashi Abdi her henchman. In return for her protection, she asked him to negotiate with the religious leaders close to the AlIttihad alIslami movement in order to recruit protesters during the visit by British diplomats and to apply pressure on both Houses of Parliament to obtain a favourable vote for a further postponement of the presidential election .Bashe Awil Omar .Son inlaw and righthand man to President Silanyo, Bashe Awil Omar, like Mohamoud Hashi Abdi, is close to Musa Bihi Abdi, the presidential candidate fielded by the ruling party Kulmiye. Furthermore, both have promoted the Berbera port contract between the Somaliland government and DP World .
(The Indian Ocean Newsletter)
