Somaliland security forces on Tuesday (February 12th) arrested Rabi Yusuf Abdullahi, a well-known clan elder in Somaliland who went to Mogadishu in August to participate in the formation of the Somali government.

Security forces arrested Abdullahi, who is the sultan of the Idagale clan, in Hargeisa after he returned Monday from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), his brother Hassan Yusuf Abdullahi told Sabahi.

"Even though he has been in Gulf nations such as Qatar and UAE for business recently, we suspect that he was arrested because of his ideas and his visit to Mogadishu in 2012," Abdullahi said. "He has been jailed in the Criminal Investigations Department and we still have no details of the arrest."

Abdullahi was also arrested in 2009 after he attended Transitional Federal Government meetings in Mogadishu.

Last week, Somaliland security forces arrested Somali parliamentarian Jama Mohamud in Gabiley District, accusing him of treason against Somaliland.

Meanwhile, in a meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London on Monday, Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo has expressed his readiness to continue talks with the Somali government, Somalia's Shabelle Media Network reported.