The government of the so-called Somaliland republic officially canceled on Saturday the construction of a military base belonging to the United Arab Emirates city of Berbera.
The president of the "Somaliland" - unilaterally declared north of Somalia - Musa Bihi Abdi, while visiting the port city of Berbera that his government canceled the deal under which the UAE was given powers to build a military base in the city.
The UAE was seeking to build the base in order to use a military air base to strike against the Houthis in Yemen.
In February 2017, Somaliland's parliament approved the establishment of a UAE military base in Berbera, the country's largest and most important city after Hargeisa.
Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silano said the base would help create hundreds of jobs.
In 2016, the UAE signed an agreement with Somaliland worth $ 442 million to develop the port of Berbera, which is mainly used for exporting livestock to the Middle East.
After signing the agreement, Somaliland's parliament held a session to hold Foreign Minister Saad Ali Shri accountable for the agreement.
The Somali federal government issued a statement canceling the agreement as soon as it was signed as being contrary to the laws of the country and international norms, which raised tension in the relations between the United Arab Emirates and Somalia.
The Somali government submitted a protest memo to the Arab League's General Secretariat demanding the rejection of the Berber agreement.The UAE responded with a scathing attack on Somali President Mohammed Abdullah Farmago through its major newspapers, and launched a Twitter campaign accusing him of terrorism, corruption, belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood and tearing his country apart.
Djibouti has previously announced the cancellation of the concession contract granted to DP World, which would operate the Doraleh terminal for 50 years, and said the decision was "irreversible."