Arab foreign ministers met on Wednesday to discuss a recent deal between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland to grant Addis Ababa access to the Red Sea coastline, a move that Mogadishu has strongly condemned. Somalia, which requested the meeting, maintains that Somaliland’s deal with Ethiopia is a breach of international law and its own sovereignty. It sits on a strategic location close to the Bay of Aden close to the southern mouth of the Red Sea. “This unilateral move by Ethiopia poses a threat to Arab national security and Red Sea shipping,” Somalia’s ambassador to the Arab League Elias Abu Bakr said. Its secession deprived Ethiopia of access to the Red Sea coastline.

Source: Ethiopian News January 17, 2024 22:46 UTC