Somali president alleges Ethiopia threatens its sovereignty

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud said Friday that the Ethiopian government and terror group al-Shabaab share the same agenda which is “threatening Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Mohamud urged Ethiopia to disengage from violating Somalia’s sovereignty.

“Today the enemy is two. We are the people who have a history of resistance. We will resist the enemy inside (al-Shabaab) and the invasion from outside and we are capable of doing that and everyone who thinks otherwise is sleeping and we call him to wake up and we are warning Ethiopia to stop,” Mahamud said at a mosque in the nation’s capital of Mogadishu.

Information Minister Daud Aweis said that Mohamud underscored the country's readiness to defend and protect its sovereignty.

His remarks came after Ethiopia signed a Red Sea access deal with Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland without approval from Somalia’s central government.

Ethiopia has been working to strengthen its relationship with Horn of Africa countries to ensure that more than 120 million citizens have access to the sea.

Somalia has rejected Ethiopia's Red Sea port deal with Somaliland, calling it “illegitimate,” a threat to good neighborliness and a violation of its sovereignty. It also recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia after the deal was announced.

The Ethiopian government has defended its decision to sign the deal and said the agreement with Somaliland “will affect no party or country.”

The deal allows Ethiopia to obtain a permanent and reliable naval base and commercial maritime service in the Gulf of Aden.

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.