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Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, has reportedly met senior Ethiopian officials at a border town on the Ethiopian side, local sources in Galkayo, 750 km north of Mogadishu, told IRIN. Abdullahi Yusuf, accompanied by the governor of Mudug Region, Abdirashid Ali Hashi Dubane, went to the town of Geladi, 180 km northwest of Galkayo, in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, on 14 August, and returned in the evening of the same day, Dahir Abdiqadir Aflow, editor of the Galkayo-based weekly, ‘Bulsho’, told IRIN.
Abdullahi first sent a senior commander to Geladi before going there himself, said Aflow. Colonel Abdullahi Isma’il Mire Are, the former commander of the Puntland Field Force, known as the “Darawish” (dervishes), “went there as an advance party”, said Dahir. In Geladi town, Abdullahi reportedly held talks with “very senior Ethiopian officials for two hours” on Abdullahi Yusuf’s future and events in Puntland, Dahir told IRIN. Attempts by IRIN to reach Abdullahi Yusuf’s office in Galkayo for comment were unsuccessful.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions