Tensions between Somalia and the United Arab Emirates ratcheted up this week as Mogadishu ditched a military deal with its ally and seized millions of dollars in cash from an Emirati plane. The escalation came after months of building friction in Somalia as the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other spills over into the fragile state, whose position of neutrality has not gone down well at home or with its allies.

Rashid Abdi, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, told AFP that while the UAE and Somalia have traditionally been close, and Mogadishu has vowed to remain neutral over the Gulf divisions, the central government is nevertheless "perceived to be very much pro-Qatar". Some of Somalia's federal states were unhappy with President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's neutral stance, and have broken with the official position to side with the UAE.

Diplomatic tensions first spilled into the open in March after the Dubai-based DP World gave Ethiopia a 19-percent stake in the Berbera port in breakaway Somaliland - whose independence is not recognised by Mogadishu. Lawmakers in Somalia, which also has a history of animosity with Ethiopia, adopted a resolution accusing the company of having "intentionally violated the sovereignty of Somalia".

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2018