Mustafe Mohamud Omar, aka Cagjar (Somali/Darod/Ogaden), the president of Somali National Regional State since mid-October, is still fulminating against his predecessor Abdi Mahmud Omar, aka Abdi Ilay (Abdile/Reer/Ogaden), who is currently in prison. Among the many accusations made by Cagjar against the previous administration of the Somali region is a charge of misappropriating public funds which were then, according to the new regional authorities, deposited into an account held by the financial services and funds transfer company Dahabshiil.

The Indian Ocean Newsletter has learnt that this affair was at the heart of discussions between Cagjar and the Somaliland president Musa Bihi Abdi during their meeting on 22 December in Tog Wajaale. It seems that Cagjar was thus the bearer of a message from Addis Ababa to Musa Bihi Abdi requesting that the money misappropriated by Abdi Ilay be returned to Ethiopia.

Contacted by the Indian Ocean Newsletter, the management at Dahabshiil claimed ‘to be unaware of any legal dispute with the Ethiopian authorities' and denied that ‘the government raised any issue of this nature with Dahabshiil'. The CEO of Dahabshiil, Abdirashid Duale, further pointed out that ‘[his] company has partnerships with fifteen banking establishments in every region of Ethiopia. Dahabshiil does not directly allow its clients to make deposits in accordance with Ethiopian regulations and the terms and conditions of the company's registration'.Despite these denials, Cagjar is keeping up the pressure on Dahabshiil. In an interview given in late December to the journalist from HornCable TV, Mohamed Ilig, the new president of Somali State stated that his predecessor Abdi Ilay had used the services of Dahabshiil…