Leader of Somalia's breakaway Somaliland says deal with Ethiopia will allow it to build a naval base

Source: Associated Press

Leader of Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland says deal with Ethiopia will allow it to build a naval base

BY OMAR FARUK
Updated 2:12 PM EST, January 26, 2024

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The president of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland has said his government will press ahead with an agreement signed earlier this month with landlocked Ethiopia to give it access to the sea by way of Somaliland’s coastline.

The deal has been condemned by regional and international groups, as well as Western countries, which say it interferes with Somalia’s territorial integrity and is causing tensions that could threaten stability in the Horn of Africa region.

Somalia has also protested the deal as a threat to its sovereignty by Somaliland, a region strategically located along the Gulf of Aden that broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country collapsed into warlord-led conflict. Somaliland has not been internationally recognized.

Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi gave more details about the memorandum of understanding he signed on Jan. 1 with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in an interview with Somaliland National Television on Wednesday.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/somalia-somaliland-ethiopia-coast-deal-a36449a0712249a59d74ad44d09d262c