President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned on Sunday that “Egypt is not going to permit anybody to threaten Somalia,” following a controversial maritime deal between rival Ethiopia and the breakaway area of Somaliland.
At a joint press convention with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Cairo, Sisi reiterated Egypt's rejection of the ocean entry deal as a violation of Somali sovereignty.
In a “message to Ethiopians,” Sisi warned in opposition to “anybody who tries to threaten Egypt and its brothers, particularly if our brothers ask us to help them.”
Cairo and Addis Ababa have been at loggerheads for years, exchanging inflammatory phrases over Ethiopia's mega-dam challenge within the Blue Nile, which Egypt says threatens its fragile water safety.
Egypt's Overseas Minister final week known as Addis Ababa “a supply of instability in his area.”
Regional tensions have escalated since landlocked Ethiopia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Somaliland on January 1, giving the nation sought-after entry to the ocean.
Mogadishu has branded the maritime pact as an act of “aggression” and stated Thursday there’s “no room for mediation except Ethiopia revokes its unlawful MoU and reaffirms Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Somaliland, a former British protectorate with 4.5 million inhabitants, has not had its declare of independence acknowledged by the worldwide group.
Mogadishu strongly opposes Somaliland's quest for statehood, however its fragile central authorities workout routines little authority over the northern area, which has its personal authorities, safety forces and forex.
Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation and one of many world's largest landlocked international locations, was lower off from its coast after Eritrea seceded and declared independence in 1993 after a 30-year conflict.
