CAIRO (KAAB TV) – Egypt will tell Somalia at the talks later this week that it wants the two allies to jointly lead the new African Union mission which is expected to be deployed to the Horn of Africa country at the end of this month, according to sources. told The National.
Egypt sees the participation of the new African Union mission in Somalia as an important step to expand its footprint and gain a better position in the strategic region, the sources said.
Egypt already has military bases in Eritrea and Djibouti, and in recent years has signed military cooperation agreements with, apart from Somalia, the Nile River countries of Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo – steps taken to strengthen Cairo’s presence in the region. Africa. and that Addis Ababa is pressured to take a more flexible position on the dispute over the Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia. Among these agreements, the one Egypt and Somalia signed last year is the most extensive. According to its statement, Egypt already has thousands of troops in Somalia.The Egyptians, mostly high-ranking units, train Somalia’s security forces to fight terrorism, secure important government facilities and protect senior government officials. It also provided weapons to Somalia and shared secret information with the members of the Arab League.
Egypt has strengthened its forces there as they are expected to be part of the new African Union forces authorized by the United Nations Security Council late last month, tasked with fighting the Al-Qaeda-linked group Al-Shabaab. Officially named the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (Aussom), the mission replaces the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (Atmis), which expired in December. On the 31st.
The conflict between landlocked Ethiopia and Somalia came to light a year ago after Addis Ababa signed a maritime agreement with the Somaliland administration to access the Red Sea. Somalia, which sees this agreement as an insult to its nationalism, responded that it does not want Ethiopian troops to operate in Aussom, arguing that it does not reduce the threat of Al Shabaab. However, the relationship between Mogadishu and Adis- Ababa has softened a bit, after Turkey’s mediation in the two neighboring countries, but no visible steps have been taken to resolve the conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia since Ankara’s intervention was announced.The number of Australian and Egyptian troops has not yet been announced, although Somali officials have said that 11,000 men have already been offered. Sources told The National last month that Egyptian forces would make up 25 percent of the new mission.
Ali Balcad, the minister of foreign affairs of Somalia, quoted by Bloomberg this week said that it is not certain how many Ethiopian troops will be allowed to operate in Somalia. Addis Ababa is known to have about 10,000 men in Somalia, including several thousand working under bilateral agreements outside Atmis. Defense ministers from Egypt and Somalia met in the city on Thursday. Cairo, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian military spokesman. She quoted Somali minister Abdulqadir Mohamed Nur as saying that Mogadishu appreciates the military cooperation between the two governments and welcomes Egypt’s participation in the new African Union mission.
The press release did not give further details, but this source said that the Minister of Internal Affairs of Somalia assured his Egyptian counterpart, Gen Abdel Meguid Saqr, that the Egyptian forces that are part of the African Union mission will replace those of Ethiopia, whose presence in Somalia is illegal. will indicate if they refuse to return. home when asked by the Somali government.Egyptian Foreign Minister Badar Abdelatty, on the other hand, will meet separately on Saturday with Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Fiqi and Osman Salah, his Eritrean counterpart, who is a close friend of Egypt and an enemy of Ethiopia, according to a statement sent to him. the media. by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. The three ministers will later participate in the meeting of the cooperation council that unites the three countries, the ministry said.
The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile’s waters has led Cairo in recent years to develop closer ties to Africa, where Addis Ababa has great influence, in part because it controls the source. It enters the Blue Nile River, which is the main channel of the river. , and because it is home to the AU headquarters.
One of the driest countries in the world, the depth of the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia is based on the Arab nations’ dependence on the Nile River for almost all of their fresh water needs. She has repeatedly said that her share of the river’s water is a matter of national security and that Ethiopia’s dam is a threat to the livelihood of 107 million people.More than ten years of talks with Ethiopia have failed to produce an agreement. Cairo wants a legal agreement to run and fill the dam. Ethiopia argues that the dam is not a threat to Egypt’s water security and insists that the project is important for its development.
“The Nile River, in particular, is a matter of life and safety for Egyptians,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said recently. “It is the main source of life for our nation. Egypt is the gift of the beautiful river.