MOGADISHU: Somalia and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel formally recognized the northern region of Somaliland as an \u201cindependent and sovereign state\u201d \u2014 the first country to do so.<\/p>\n
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, which has been the key priority for president Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi since he took office last year.<\/p>\n
But a Somali foreign ministry statement warned the decision was a \u201cdeliberate attack\u201d on its sovereignty that would undermine peace in the region. Several other countries also condemned Israel\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
The African Union said it \u201cfirmly rejects\u201d Israel\u2019s move, warning: \u201cAny attempt to undermine the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Somalia…risks setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Somaliland \u201cremains an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia,\u201d which is a member of the AU, the pan-African body\u2019s head, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said he announced \u201cthe official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state,\u201d making Israel the first country to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,\u201d Netanyahu\u2019s office said, referring to several agreements between Israel and Arab countries brokered by US President Donald Trump during his first presidency to normalize ties with Israel.<\/p>\n
It said Netanyahu had invited Abdullahi to visit.<\/p>\n
Trump, when asked by the New York Post newspaper about US recognition of Somaliland, said \u201cno\u201d and added: \u201cDoes anyone know what Somaliland is, really?\u201c<\/p>\n
Hailing Israel\u2019s decision, Abdullahi said in a post on X that it marked the beginning of a \u201cstrategic partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a historic moment as we warmly welcome\u201d he said, affirming \u201cSomaliland\u2019s readiness to join the Abraham Accords,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, crowds of people took to the streets to celebrate, many carrying the flag of the breakaway state, said sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOGADISHU: Somalia and the African Union reacted angrily Friday after Israel formally recognized the northern region of Somaliland as an \u201cindependent and sovereign state\u201d \u2014 the first country to do so. Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, which has been the key priority for president Abdirahman …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":91638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91639,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91624\/revisions\/91639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}