JidbaaleSomalia says Egypt has volunteered to send peacekeeping soldiers to the Horn of Africa as part of a security alliance that is growing as the mandate of a long-time group of African Union peacekeepers runs out.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Thursday attended a conference in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, where he and the presidents of Somalia and Eritrea reaffirmed strong cooperation in regional security.
Somali officials stated in a statement at the conclusion of the meeting that they appreciated Egypt’s offer to deploy soldiers in Somalia as part of a stability mission when the existing African Union deployment disbands in December.
The statement stated the leaders supported the African Union Peace and Security Council’s decision to form the African Union Mission to Support Stabilization in Somalia, or AUSSOM, under which mandate the Egyptians or others will be sent.
A supplementary declaration after the conference signed by officials of Somalia, Egypt, and Eritrea underlined Somalia’s sovereign right to select the composition, duties, and deployment timeframe for the AUSSOM forces.
Somalia’s federal government has been assisted by an African Union peacekeeping operation since 2007 in combating the Islamic extremist organization al-Shabab, which has connections with al-Qaida and is responsible for fatal assaults in the nation.
The conference in Asmara followed a period of tensions in the region stemming from issues pitting Ethiopia against others.
The first issue between Ethiopia and Egypt is over Ethiopia’s building of a $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile, a vital tributary of the Nile River. Egypt thinks it would have a severe impact on water and agriculture supplies downstream in Egypt unless Ethiopia takes its demands into consideration. Ethiopia aims to utilize the dam to produce sorely needed energy.
The second disagreement between Ethiopia and Somalia is over Somalia’s separatist territory of Somaliland.
Somalia has moved to obstruct landlocked Ethiopia’s continued attempts to obtain access to the Red Sea via a disputed arrangement with Somaliland to lease a piece of land along its coastline, where Ethiopia would create a marine force facility. In exchange, Ethiopia will recognize Somaliland as an independent nation, according to Somaliland officials.
Somaliland seceded from Somalia more than 30 years ago but is not recognized by the African Union or the United Nations as an independent state. Somalia still considers Somaliland part of its territory.
