JidbaaleThe Somali Foreign Minister, Ambassador Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, convened with Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed El-Baz on Thursday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mogadishu to deliberate on enhancing bilateral ties between Somalia and Egypt.
The two ambassadors examined strategies to further their enduring collaboration across several sectors and shared perspectives on contemporary regional and international issues.
Minister Fiqi expressed profound gratitude for Egypt’s steadfast assistance, emphasizing the historical and strategic connections between the two countries. Relations between Egypt and Somalia have strengthened this year due to their mutual distrust of Ethiopia, leading Cairo to dispatch several aircraft laden with arms to Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, after the signing of a cooperative security agreement in August.
Tensions have escalated since Ethiopia’s Memorandum of Understanding with Somaliland, inked in early 2024, which provides Ethiopia with maritime access in return for possible recognition of Somaliland—an accord that Somalia has denounced as a violation of its sovereignty.
Ethiopia now deploys around 3,000 troops in Somalia as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and has an extra contingent of 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers in various locations under a bilateral agreement.
Somalia has demanded the withdrawal of the Ethiopian military by year-end unless Addis Ababa rescinds the Somaliland agreement, deeming it a violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
