Bosaso car bomb in May organised by Qatar against Emirati interests in Somalia

A car bomb that exploded outside a court in Bosaso, north Somalia, in May, was aimed at advancing Qatar’s interests in the country against the UAE, a recorded mobile phone conversation has revealed.

The recording, obtained by The New York Times, was of a call between the Qatari ambassador to Somalia and a businessman close to the Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim.

“The bombings and killings, we know who are behind them,” the businessman, Khalifa Al Muhanadi, said in the call on May 18, about a week after the attack.

Mr Muhanadi spoke of the bomb as part of a plan to try to discourage UAE contractors from the country, the paper reported.

When the NYT asked both men about the authenticity of the call, neither disputed it, but said they were speaking as private citizens rather than on behalf of the government.

The ambassador told the paper he did not know Mr Al Muhanadi.

Asked by the NYT why he had described the Bosaso attackers as “friends” on the call, Mr Al Muhanadi said: “All Somalis are my friends.”

The car bomb had earlier been thought by many to be a response by an ISIS affiliate to a US air strike.

Mr Al Muhanadi and Sheikh Tamim have been photographed together on several occasions, also reports and text messages provided by the foreign intelligence agency that recorded the phone call say they often travel together, the paper reported.

In June 2017, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and other allied states cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar over its support for terrori. sm.

Source: The National