Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 7, 2007 (SL Times) – The minister of Aviation, Hon Ali Muhammad Waran-Adde, has announced a ban on the new Somali passport issued by the Mbagathi government [reference to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, the TFG] at all Somaliland airports.

Hon Ali Muhammad Waran-Adde announced the ban when he gave an interview to the independent TV station, HCTV [Hargeysa Cable TV] on Tuesday.

The minister returned recently from a duty trip to Addis Ababa. The aim of the visit was to discuss with the Ethiopian government the dispute sparked off by the decision of the Ethiopian Airlines to suspend all flights to Hargeysa. The two sides have now agreed that the company should resume its flights to Somaliland.

The minister also announced Ethiopia would donate modern equipment to the airport in Hargeysa. This equipment would assist in the security screening of passengers going through Egal International Airport.

Source: BBC Monitoring