Arab League rejects Ethiopia’s sea access deal with Somaliland

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

ANKARA (AA) - The Arab League rejected a sea access deal Wednesday between Ethiopia and Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland.

The League “rejects and condemns any memorandums of understanding that violate Somalia’s sovereignty or attempts to benefit from the fragility of the Somali internal situation and faltering Somali negotiations,” the Cairo-based group said in a statement.

It warned against exploiting conditions “to extract part of Somali territory in violation of the rules and principles of international law, and in a way that threatens the territorial integrity of Somalia as a whole."

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed Monday between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, giving Ethiopia access to Red Sea ports.

Abiy’s office hailed the pact as “historic,” and said it is “intended to serve as a framework for the multisectoral partnership between the two sides.”

Bur Somalia rejected Ethiopia's Red Sea port deal with Somaliland on Tuesday and called the agreement a threat to good neighborliness and a violation of its sovereignty.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called his Egyptian counterpart late Tuesday in the wake of the tensions between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa concerning the deal.

Somaliland is a former British protectorate in northwestern Somalia that declared independence in 1991 but has received no international recognition.

Ethiopia lost its Red Sea ports in the early 1990s after the Eritrean War of Independence, which lasted from 1961 to 1991.

In 1991, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia, leading to the establishment of two separate nations. The separation resulted in Ethiopia losing direct access to the Red Sea and key ports.

​​​​​​​Ethiopia has since been landlocked, affecting its ability to conduct efficient maritime trade.