Hargeisa (SD) – Sources in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, indicate that the Somaliland government has today arrested former Member of Parliament Ibrahim Jama Ali (Rayte).

The lawmaker is said to have been on a trip to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in recent days, where elections for the Upper House of the Northern Parliament recently took place.

Reports of the lawmaker’s arrest say that he was arrested at Hargeisa airport as he landed.

Somaliland Vice President Abdirahman Seylici recently announced that anyone found to have participated in Somalia’s elections would be arrested.

The former Somaliland lawmaker Reyte is not known as to why he went to Mogadishu, the nature of his visit and how long he stayed there.

Somaliland does not allow political travel between Hargeisa and Mogadishu, and Somaliland politicians and celebrities have been arrested previously for their visit to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.