Mogadishu (PP Editorial) —Only two weeks ago, before the Ankara Agreement between Somalia and Ethiopia was signed by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed and the President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the Somali Defence Minister Abdulqadir Mohamed told the media that Ethiopia had been excluded from the peacekeeping forces set to operate in Somalia from 2025. The Ankara Agreement provided Ethiopia with an opportunity to reiterate its position that it respects the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia and that Addis Ababa will consult Mogadishu about any access to sea, including leasing a coastal district to the landlocked country. Ethiopia has not officially withdrawn from the maritime Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the Somaliland administration, a secessionist entity in northern Somalia.
The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, accepted the terms of the Ankara Agreement and reversed his decision to exclude Ethiopia from the peacekeeping forces in Somalia from 2025. Today, the Ethiopian government rejected a claim by the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Ethiopian forces had yesterday attacked the Somali National Army positions in Doolow. The Federal Security Minister Abdullahi Sheikh Hussein (Fartaag) deployed troops in Doolow to project an image of influence in his stronghold, hoping to replace the beleaguered Somali Prime Minister, Hamsa Abdi Barre.
The decision to deploy troops was intended to incite an anti-Jubaland movement in Gedo, a proposal denounced by influential Gedo politicians such as Senator Abdiwahid Goonjeh and Abdi Farah Shirdon, a former Prime Minister. The Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the Doolow clashes while the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ali Omar, and the Director of Somalia’s intelligence agency, Abdullahi Sanbaloolshe, were visiting Addis Ababa yesterday.
The Foreign Minister of Somalia, Ahmed Mohamud Fiqi, yesterday held a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart to announce the planned deployment of Egyptian troops as part of the peacekeeping forces in Somalia. Egypt reportedly rejected the “sea access” clause in the Ankara Agreement due to the unresolved Grand Renaissance Dam of Ethiopia, which affects Nile water reaching Egypt.
This development might prompt Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of the Republic of Türkiye, to postpone his planned visit to Somalia. The Federal Government of Somalia accused Ethiopia of aggression over the Doolow incident. Ethiopia’s reaction to the accusation indicates that Addis Ababa views the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, as a faction leader whose forces were prevented from destabilising a part of Jubaland State of Somalia.
© Puntland Post, 2024
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