East African neighbors mending fences – Reuters

Ethiopia’s defense minister has visited Somalia amid a naval base dispute

Ethiopian Defense Minister Aisha Mohammed Mussa has visited Somalia, signaling a possible detente between the two African countries, according to Reuters.

Addis Ababa had angered Mogadishu last year by signing a deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland to host an Ethiopian naval base. Ethiopia has been landlocked since the secession of Eritrea in 1993.

Somalia’s foreign minister, Ali Omar, confirmed the Ethiopian minister’s visit to Reuters but would not say what she was there to discuss. The government in Addis Ababa did not comment on the visit.

Somaliland, which lies on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, declared independence from Somalia in 1991. The territory has since established its own government, security structures, and currency, but has not been internationally recognized. Somalia still regards Somaliland as part of its sovereign territory.

Last January, Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding by which Addis Ababa would get a stretch of coastline to build a naval base in exchange for recognizing the territory’s independence. Mogadishu responded by accusing Addis Ababa of aggression and expelling its ambassador.

Somalia also threatened to expel some 10,000 Ethiopian troops currently deployed as part of an African Union mission to combat al-Shabaab, a terrorist group allied with al-Qaeda.

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In talks hosted by Türkiye last month, Somalian and Ethiopian representatives agreed to peacefully resolve the dispute and begin “technical negotiations” by the end of February.

A week later, Somaliland offered to host a US military base, without requesting recognition by Washington.

Following the overthrow of military ruler Siad Barre (1969-1991), Somalia slid into civil war. Somaliland declared independence while a neighboring region, Puntland, declared autonomy. The south of the country saw fighting between rival clans and the emergence of Islamic Courts Union (2006-2009) and al-Shabaab. The current federal government has relied on African Union support to combat the Islamist insurgency in the hinterlands, while struggling to reintegrate the two breakaway regions.

Last March, Puntland said it would function independently of Somalia until a referendum about constitutional changes could be held.