MINNEAPOLIS (KAAB TV) – Somali Prime Minister Hamze Abdi Barre found himself embroiled in a controversy in the weekend when he convened a meeting with Somali Muslim scholars in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
During his visit to Minnesota with his delegation, Prime Minister Hamze requested a breakfast meeting with the local scholars, including prominent cleric Sheikh Abdirahman Bashir, originally from Djibouti.
Sources close to Sheikh Abdirahman Bashir confirmed that when the meeting commenced, they were informed that Sheikh Abdirahman Bashir would not be allowed to speak due to his outspoken criticism of Djibouti’s dictator, Ismail Omar Guelleh.
In response to this exclusion, Sheikh Abdirahman Bashir chose to leave the meeting early, causing significant embarrassment.
It’s worth noting that Sheikh Abdirahman Bashir had previously been a teacher to young individuals, including Hamze Abdi Barre, who was a refugee in Yemen in the early 2000s. Prime Minister Hamze had often referred to himself as Sheikh Abdirahman’s student, as per accounts from Hamze’s associates.
Sheikh Abdirahman Bashir is a prominent figure in Somali community, known for giving media interviews in which he criticizes Ismail Omar Guelleh’s rule in Djibouti, where people face dire poverty.
The Prime Minister of Somalia’s office declined to comment on the incident that transpired during the meeting with religious scholars in Minnesota.
However, sources have pointed fingers at the warm relations between Somalia’s regime, led by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Djibouti’s Guelleh played a role in the exclusion of Sheikh Abdirahman, despite his initial invitation into the meeting.