Monday October 26, 2026
Mogadishu (HOL) — Former Somali intelligence chief Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbaloolshe claimed he met the leaders of Puntland, Jubaland and Somaliland in the United Arab Emirates to discuss forming a political alliance aimed at removing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud from power.
Sanbaloolshe, a former director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), made the remarks in an interview circulating Sunday, naming Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni, Jubaland leader Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe and Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro among those he said he met in the UAE.
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He described the discussions as focused on bringing together political forces opposed to Mohamud and determining the direction and next steps of a proposed alliance.
Sanbaloolshe did not publicly provide evidence showing that the three leaders had agreed to participate in an effort to remove Mohamud, and his claim could not be independently verified.
Deni, Madobe and Irro had not publicly responded to the allegations as of Sunday.
The remarks come amid increasingly strained relations between Somalia’s federal government and the UAE, which has longstanding political, commercial and security relationships with several Somali regional administrations.
Earlier this month, Somali Defense Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi accused opposition politicians visiting Abu Dhabi of meeting individuals linked to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and alleged that they were seeking to organize armed groups against the federal government. He did not publicly produce evidence supporting the accusation.
The UAE has repeatedly denied accusations that it militarily supports the RSF in Sudan. A U.N. fact-finding mission reported in September that investigators had found grounds to believe a network involving individuals and entities in the UAE and several other countries supplied the RSF with weapons, logistics and personnel. Abu Dhabi rejected allegations that it backs the paramilitary force.
Relations between Mogadishu and Abu Dhabi deteriorated sharply this year. Somalia announced in January that it was terminating agreements with the UAE covering security and defense cooperation, federal institutions and arrangements involving the ports of Berbera, Bosaso and Kismayo, accusing Abu Dhabi of actions that undermined Somali sovereignty.
President Mohamud has also accused the UAE of encouraging Somaliland’s campaign for independence, an allegation Abu Dhabi has not publicly accepted.
The political dispute comes as Mohamud’s government faces separate confrontations with Puntland and Jubaland over constitutional changes, federal power-sharing and the framework for national elections.
Puntland and Jubaland have rejected key elements of the federal government’s constitutional and electoral agenda, while Somaliland operates separately from Somalia and continues to seek international recognition.
Sanbaloolshe himself has increasingly criticized Mohamud’s administration after leaving government and has recently backed political protests in Hiiraan over representation and the electoral process in Hirshabelle.