MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had called him the night before the inking of a sea access deal with the break-away region of Somaliland, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Mohamud denied that Addis Ababa had informed him in advance that it planned to lease a parcel of land along the Red Sea from the separatist region, but was only told that Somaliland’s leader was visiting Ethiopia.
Mohamud, whose government signed a defense agreement with Turkey to receive Ankara’s support in countering Ethiopia’s attempts to gain access to the Somali coast, insists that Mogadishu will defend itself if neighboring Addis Ababa does not refrain from acts of aggression.
“If Ethiopia continues to pursue that, Somalia has the right to defend itself by whatever means it can,” he added.
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