Ethiopia has said Somali leader Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his delegation on Saturday tried to access the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa with unauthorised weapons. To Somali officials who spoke to us, the commotion at the entrance of the AU headquarters was not just a humiliation of their president but also risked their leader’s personal safety. Nevertheless, Mohamud’s security detail quickly contacted the IGAD Chairperson and Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh to engage Ethiopian leaders to allow the Somali leader to attend the summit. President Guelleh came to Mohamud’s rescue. Red Sea CRISISRelations between Somalia and Ethiopia took a nosedive earlier this year when Addis Ababa signed a secret deal with the neighbouring secessionist Northern part of Somalia known as Somaliland to access the Red Sea.

Source: Ethiopian News February 18, 2024 16:59 UTC