Mogadishu, Somalia – Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday received separate high-level delegations from Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), underscoring Mogadishu’s emerging role as a quiet venue for diplomatic outreach despite escalating regional rivalries.
In a morning meeting at Villa Somalia, Sudan’s Director of General Intelligence Service, General Ahmed Ibrahim Ali Mufaddal, handed President Hassan a message from Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Chairman, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The communication, according to officials, focused on strengthening bilateral ties and briefing Somalia’s leadership on Sudan’s ongoing internal conflict.
Hours later, President Hassan welcomed Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan, UAE’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, who conveyed a letter from UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Discussions centered on reinforcing Somalia-UAE relations and exploring avenues for cooperation in investment, security, and development.
The dual visits are diplomatically sensitive, as Sudan and the UAE have been at odds since the outbreak of Sudan’s armed conflict in April 2023. Khartoum accuses Abu Dhabi of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an allegation the UAE has consistently denied. The rift led to the severing of relations between the two nations, raising the stakes of their parallel outreach to Mogadishu.
Somalia has so far avoided taking sides in Sudan’s war, while cultivating strong ties with both Khartoum and Abu Dhabi. Analysts view today’s visits as a sign of Somalia’s rising diplomatic profile at a time when regional alignments are shifting ahead of the 80th UN General Assembly session in September.
Villa Somalia has not disclosed whether the back-to-back visits were coordinated or coincidental, but the optics of hosting rival delegations on the same day highlight President Hassan’s balancing act in navigating complex regional politics.