Somali president warns Ethiopia over Somaliland port deal

 

Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has warned Ethiopia over a controversial port deal with Somaliland [File: Feisal Omar/Reuters]

 

In an exclusive interview, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Somalia will not yield to ‘pressure’ on the breakaway region.

 

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has warned Ethiopia against moving forward with a contentious port contract it negotiated with Somaliland's breakaway province.

 

Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with landlocked Ethiopia on January 1 to lease 20 kilometers (12 miles) of its coastland around the port of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden for military and economic reasons for 50 years.

 

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Mohamud stated that Ethiopian assets would have to enter into Somalia's territory to reach the leased area, and warned Addis Ababa against taking such action.

 

"So far, Ethiopians have not entered Somalia. If they do, that will be an issue on a different scale," Mohamud stated.

 

Egypt, which is involved in a separate conflict with Ethiopia over a huge Blue Nile dam, has pledged to support Mogadishu in the Somaliland dispute. Mohamud stated that he reviewed recent developments with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, but the two sides did not discuss a joint military involvement.

 

“We haven’t discussed the Egyptian military coming to Somalia and we believe that the problem has not reached [that point] yet,” the Somali president said. “And that’s why we’re warning [Ethiopia]: don’t do it, please.”

 

Ethiopia is aiming to establish a marine force base in the land leased from Somaliland and obtain a port for maritime exports in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, which could improve its access to Europe. Currently, Addis Ababa relies mainly on the smaller Djibouti for its port operations for inbound and outbound trade.

 

Somaliland, a region of Somalia that broke away in 1991 after a bloody war, has welcomed the deal as it looks for international recognition and economic opportunities beyond Mogadishu.

 

Somalia is outraged by the arrangement, which bypasses the federal authority and threatens the integrity of its own territory.

 

"This is a piece of land that belongs to Somalia and [we] will never yield to whatever pressure that comes on it," Mohamud was quoted as saying.

 

The Somali head of state accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of keeping him "in the dark" about the agreement with Somaliland when they met in Djibouti in late December for "very good" talks on Somalia's "unity" just days before the MOU was signed.

 

When asked if he thought there might be a win-win solution to the situation, which has fueled worries of a long-term diplomatic breach, he said the ball was in Ethiopia's court.

 

“The question is not will Ethiopia access the sea. We want Ethiopia to have access to the sea, there is no question about that,” Mohamud said, adding that the federal government was ready to negotiate a deal with Addis Ababa. “But grabbing a piece of land, we are not ready for that.”

“They have to [initiate] a conducive environment to communicate, negotiate and to dialogue,” he added.

 

Mogadishu has stated that the purchase is a land grab, while Addis Abeba claims it is a business transaction that is critical to its economic requirements.

 

The Arab League welcomed Somalia's diplomatic attempts to address "this perilous situation" on January 17. Qatar, Turkey, the US, the EU, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation have all urged Ethiopia to respect Mogadishu's sovereignty.

 

 Source: Aljazeera