UAE seeks turnaround in relations with Somalia for help in Yemen war
The United Arab Emirates has offered Somalia to reopen a hospital in the capital, in exchange for backing the UAE’s involvement in the Yemeni war, but Somalia rejected this amid deteriorating relations between the two countries.
After a period of cold relations, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) now seeks to court Somalia, offering to reopen the Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Mogadishu, which it closed two years ago. Yet like many of Abu Dhabi’s humanitarian gestures, this helping hand comes at a price.
Somalia News reported July 1 that, in exchange for restoring the hospital, Abu Dhabi requested that Somalia backs its involvement in Yemen. The offer came after the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized Yemen’s Socotra island in the Gulf of Aden on June 20, which the UAE has eyed for some time.
![Women take part in a demonstration against the Somali President Mohamed Abdulahi Farmajo in Mogadishu on December 15, 2020 accused of interferences in the electoral process. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) / The erroneous mention appearing in the metadata of this photo by STRINGER has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [a demonstration against the Somali President Mohamed Abdulahi Farmajo] instead of [a demonstration against the Somali Prime Minister]. Please immediately remove the erroneous me](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2020/12/GettyImages-1230135321.jpg/GettyImages-1230135321.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=5izYbmvi)
