Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland “is (a) threat to the security and stability of the world and the region,” Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud tells an emergency parliamentary session.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Friday announcement, making his country the first to recognize Somaliland, “is tantamount to a blunt aggression against the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and the unity of the people of the Somali Republic,” Mohamud says.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has for decades pushed for international recognition. A self-proclaimed republic, it enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden and has its own money, passports and army. But it has been diplomatically isolated since its unilateral declaration of independence.
Somalia’s government and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel’s announcement.
Mogadishu denounced a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty, while Egypt, Turkey, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation all condemned the decision.
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