HARGEISA, Somalialand -- The Authorities of Somalia's separatist administration of Somaliland Sunday detained three Somali Federal Government officials at Hargeisa airport midst Turkey-brokered bilateral talks between the two sides, Garowe Online reports.Somaliland Interior Minister Ali Mohamed Waran Adde confirmed the arrest of the senior officials-Jama Mohamed Jama, Fahima nur Negeye and Abdiazis Adan-who reportedly work for the offices of President, Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs respectively.
Addressing the media members in the capital city of Hargeisa, Waran Adde noted that the three Somali government officials were trying to illegally infiltrate into Hargeisa.
"Here in Somaliland, [We] enacted anti-federal government legislation and they knew our response henceforth we would bring those people to the justice," said the Interior Minister."They travelled by plane from Mogadishu to Hargeisa and they weren't transit passengers".
Independent sources in Hargeisa tell Garowe Online News Agency that Mogadishu-based government officials were arrested by Somaliland police on Saturday afternoon. Somalia's Federal Government has yet to comment on the incident that captured the attention of many Somalis.
A ministerial delegation representing Mogadishu government and Somaliland gathered for a dialogue process in the Turkish city of Istanbul last month, forming a joint roadmap and condemning former dictatorial government of Siyad Barre for heinous acts.
Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of the country as a de facto sovereign state in 1991 but it hasn't been recognized internationally yet.