MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – The leaders of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday held talks in Cairo after which they have presided over the signing of key defense agreement between the two countries, Villa Somalia said.
During a press conference held shortly after the meeting, Mohamud described the pact as a “testament to a future of common defense against the international terrorism we are combatting both at home and abroad.”
Mohamud added that the newly-inked deal is a “blueprint for the exchange of knowledge and expertise in the pursuit of regional, continental, and international peace and security.”
The deal comes a day after Turkish-brokered talks between Somalia and Ethiopia, which kicked off in Ankara on Monday, concluded without results on Tuesday. Ethiopia has rejected Somalia’s demands to retract a memorandum of understanding it signed with the break-away region of Somaliland in January that grants it access to a 90-km stretch of land along the Red Sea where it plans to build a naval base.
But Somalia described the deal as an annexation attempt and insisted that it violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Somalia previously signed a maritime defense agreement with Turkey, whose navy has begun operations in the Somali waters in what Somali authorities say is an attempt to fend off potential Ethiopian aggression.
The new pact with Egypt is feared to further worsen already strained relations with Ethiopia. Cairo has recently pledged to contribute its troops to a new African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia that is set to start operations in January next year.
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