The White House sees national security concerns in a recent agreement giving Ethiopia leasing rights to the Red Sea coastline in Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region, administration officials said Tuesday. But experts questioned Washington’s commitment and ability to quell tensions in the volatile region.
The two parties inked the deal on January 1. At the time, Ethiopian government spokesman Redwan Hussien said the deal also “paves the way for accessing a leased military base on [the] Red Sea.”
John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, told VOA that Washington was working with partners in the region — including the African Union and the eight-member Intergovernmental Authority on Development trade bloc — to push against the nonbinding memorandum of understanding, which Somalia’s government, headquartered in Mogadishu, sees as illegitimate.
“We’re certainly troubled,” Kirby said, adding: “As we’ve said many, many times, we support Somalia’s sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and it’s got to be respected.”
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