As President Dahir tours the Middle East, hopes are running high that the Arab world will finally make moves to openly support Somaliland.

Below is an article published by Adwal News:

Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin and his delegation who arrived here [Abu Dhabi] on Sunday 17 Feb. 2008 on an unofficial visit today [18 February 2008] attended a lunch hosted in his honor by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and President of the UAE Red Crescent Society (RCS), according to Sources close to the delegation.

Rayale is expected to meet with UAE RCS officials on Tuesday 19 Feb. 2008. The President's visit is shrouded in secrecy and was not mentioned in the local press, but the sources indicate that the RCS may assist Somaliland in several projects, particularly the rehabilitation of roads.

Despite being a low profile visit, many Somalilanders see Rayale first visit to the Arab world as a step to thaw the frosty relations between Somaliland and Arab countries.

Arab countries led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia had until now refused to welcome Somaliland officials, considering the Transitional Federal Government, TFG as representative of the whole of Somalia.

Rayale's current visit which is expected to include other Arab countries follows his recent trip to Washington D.C. and the visit paid by Jendayi Frazer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs to Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital.