Aviation Minister Duran Farah refutes claims of arrest of airlines officials

The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Duran Ahmed Farah has denied reports that some airline executives have been arrested.

Duran said he was taken aback by reports by a section of the local media and Somalis online that some managers from airlines in the country had been arrested on the orders of the minister.

“I saw on social media that people had been arrested. I do not know where they came from, and they say the minister gave the order. “I do not know about my orders for arrests,” the minister said.

Reports circulating on sections of the media on Monday claimed that the minister had ordered the arrest of the managers following a disagreement over the formation of airlines association in the country.

The minister and airline officials had been meeting in Mogadishu to deliberate on the formation of associations for the airlines to pool resources together and establish standards on the operationalisation of the airlines.

Halla Airlines representative Yusuf Mohamed (Haji Dool), speaking to BBC Somali Service denied that the airlines were divided over the issue but noted the discussions were postponed for further deliberations.