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MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somaliland's defense minister has resigned to protest his government's signing of an agreement allowing landlocked Ethiopia access to Somaliland's coast.
“Ethiopia remains our biggest enemy,” Abdiqani Mohamud Ateye said in an interview with local television on Sunday.
Somalia has protested the deal, viewing it as a threat to its sovereignty from Somaliland, which seceded from Somalia decades ago but lacks international recognition for its claim to be an independent state.
Ateye claimed that in a previous meeting with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, he expressed his belief that the deployment of Ethiopian troops in Somaliland was fundamentally inappropriate.
He said he had also argued that the proposed Ethiopian naval base construction site rightfully belonged to his community, but that the president had dismissed his concerns.
There was no immediate response from the Somali or Ethiopian governments to the minister's claims.
Somaliland, a region strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country descended into warlord-led conflict.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland's President signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Sea Access last week. Under the agreement, Somaliland would lease a 20-kilometer stretch of coastline to Ethiopia.
Somaliland's defense minister accused the Ethiopian prime minister of trying to acquire the stretch of coast without proper negotiations. “Abiy Ahmed wants to take it over without renting or owning it,” he said.
The agreement has sparked protests across Somaliland, with citizens divided over the deal. Some see potential economic benefits. Others fear endangering their sovereignty.
With a population of more than 120 million, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world. When Eritrea seceded in 1993, it lost its access to the sea. Since then, Ethiopia has used the port in neighboring Djibouti for the majority of its imports and exports.
While the agreement may have no impact on regional stability in the short term because Somalia has no way of imposing its will on Somaliland by force, in the longer term it could affect states such as Djibouti and Egypt, said Matt Bryden, strategic advisor for Nairobi-based Sahan Research think tank .
“Djibouti, as Ethiopia’s main port, may see a threat to its trade interests. Egypt could resist Ethiopia's ambitions to establish a naval presence in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Members of the African Union and the Arab League are being encouraged by all parties to take positions. Therefore, an escalation of political and diplomatic attitudes on all sides is very likely,” he said.