Canadian Citizen Arrested in Somaliland by Berbera Mayor without Charges

HARGEISA (SomalilandPress) — A 60 year old Canadian citizen is being held in Berbera's main jail where he has been held without charge for the last three nights at the request of the Mayor of Berbera, who is also the chairman of the National Security Committee in Saaxil region. While arbitrary arrests on trumped up charges have occurred in the past, they're usually reserved for members of the press or those involved in politics.

Ibrahim Haji Abdi Elmi is currently held in Berbera jail where the temperature reaches above 40 degrees centigrade at this time of year, in a city where there is no air conditioning. He is being held along with two others who were arrested at the same time after being invited for a friendly meeting.

Our sources reveal that Mr. Elmi is being held over some political comments he made, and outraged citizens are currently working on securing the release of the US educated retired Colonel. Reports indicate that the Mayor of Berbera was not happy to hear about Mr. Elmi's support for the Kulmiye opposition party.

SomalilandPress has made several attempts to contact the Mayor of Berbera (Abdullah Mohamed Arab) for more information, however, at this point in time we have been unsuccessful.

Maxmuud-Aar