ADDIS ABABA/MOGADISHU: Somalia will hold an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday, state media said, after the breakaway region of Somaliland struck a “historic” deal with Ethiopia allowing Addis Ababa access to a Red Sea port. Monday’s surprise pact announced in Addis Ababa has triggered anger in Mogadishu, which only days earlier had agreed to resume dialogue with Somaliland after years of stalemate. The agreement with Somaliland — whose 1991 claim of independence from Somalia is not recognized internationally — gives landlocked Ethiopia long-desired access to the Red Sea, a key waterway for global trade. Somali National Television said on X, formerly Twitter, that there would an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss the agreement. On the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, Berbera offers an African base at the gateway to the Red Sea and further north to the Suez canal.

Source: Ethiopian News January 02, 2024 06:44 UTC