Egypt refuses visit by Somali president: report

MOGADISHU, Jan 2, 2004 (Xog-Ogaal) — Reports from diplomatic sources close to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry say that the ministry has refused a visit by the Somali president, Col Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, to Egypt.

President Yusuf attended a meeting in Khartoum last week and after that requested to visit Egypt but he was informed that the foreign ministry was not ready to accept the visit at the moment.

Other reports say that Egypt has said that it is not ready at the moment to discuss Somali affairs with President Yusuf since he is only one person and Egyptian leaders would first like to see the complete formation of the Somali government.

It is said that Egypt was not satisfied with last week’s meeting in Khartoum of the Sanaa regional alliance attended by Sudan, Ethiopia and Yemen.

The Egyptian government had been invited to attend the meeting but rejected the invitation. Many Egyptians believe that the alliance has a plan against their country.

There is no official confirmation about the report on whether president Yusuf requested a trip to Egypt after the Khartoum meeting.

Material from the BBC Monitoring Service, original text in Somali