Montenegrin president says a famous photo of him with Serbian President Vucic and Mohammed Dahlan was taken in Vucic’s house in Belgrade.
Montenegro’s President Milo Djukanovic at a press conference in Cetinje, Montenegro. Photo: EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC
Milo Djukanovic, President of Montenegro, has told N1 television that a famous photo taken of him with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Mohammed Dahlan, an adviser to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, a controversial figure, was taken at Vucic’s house.
Turkey accuses Dahlan of involvement in a failed 2016 coup, and has offered a 1.1 million-euro reward for his arrest.
“In the house of President Vucic”, Djukanovic responded to a question about the origin of the picture from an N1 journalist, adding that at the time Dahlan was in Belgrade.
“At one stage … when President Vucic and I had finished our topics, he joined us and we had a drink”, Djukanovic recalled, adding that he could not remember exactly what year it was.
“There was talk of investments in Belgrade then. That part of the conversation was conducted by Dahlan, and the people in his company, with President Vucic. I was there for a short time, we talked a little about some common domestic topics and I returned to Montenegro,” the President said.
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| Aleksandar Vučić, Mohammed Dahlan and Milo Đukanović in Vucic’s House. | Photo: Inlightpress |
Dahlan was for years considered as someone who worked both with Djukanovic and Vucic.
The former security chief of the Palestinian National Authority was once seen by many as likely heir to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but lost out to current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Kicked out of Arafat’s Fatah party in 2011, Dahlan was accused of corruption and defamation. He was sentenced to two years in prison in March 2014, but had by then already left for the UAE.
Dahlan is now an adviser to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Arab emirate that has invested major sums in Montenegro and Serbia.
In 2010, he and his wife were granted Montenegrin citizenship, and official documents showed that it was done at the behest of Djukanovic, who has described Dahlan as a “friend”.
Serbia’s government has also quietly granted him citizenship, BIRN has revealed. In recent years, the UAE and its state companies have invested significantly in Serbian agriculture and real estate, most significantly in the controversial Belgrade Waterfront luxury residential and commercial development.
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