AMISOM Apologises Upper House Speaker Over Blocking His Trip from Mogadishu Airport

African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Monday apologised Upper House Speaker, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi over alleged hours of detention at Mogadishu Airport

Mr. Abdullahi was detained several hours at Adan Adde International Airport for unspecified reasons during a trip to Nairobi sometime in June.

In moved to repair the damage to the image of the Speaker and the violation of legislative immunity, AU officials in Mogadishu expressed their sadness about the incident.

During a meeting the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Francis Madeira extended his apology to the speaker.

“We discussed matters related to security and protocol. We are now reading from the same page. We are happy and satisfied with the mutual explanation. From now we will work very well with each other,” Mr. Madeira said.

Neither the Somali government nor AMISOM did publicly explain the motive behind the embarrassing incident.

He said that he also discussed the speaker and his two deputies focused on security, protocol and ways of strengthening relations between the federal parliament and AMISOM.

Mr. Madeira reiterated AMISOM’s respect for the leadership and people of Somalia.

“The AU Mission will continue working closely with the government and federal parliament in bringing lasting peace and security to the Horn of Africa country,” Mr. Madeira pledged.

For his part, Mr. Abdullahi thanked AMISOM peacekeepers for the sacrifice made in stabilizing the country saying their (AMISOM) efforts had brought positive gains to the people of Somalia.

“We are very grateful and aware of the efforts and sacrifice of AMISOM peacekeepers and the role they play to secure Somalia and we are very happy to receive you [the SRCC],” said the Upper House Speaker.