🇸🇴🇪🇹 Somaliland lawmakers shoot down Red Sea access deal with Ethiopia

Lawmakers in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland have rejected a maritime access deal with Ethiopia.

In a joint statement late on Tuesday, members of both houses of Somaliland's parliament, mainly from the coastal Awdal and Salal provinces, said the Red Sea access deal was "illegal" and aims to "harm the unity of the people of Somaliland."

"We have rejected the deal and its implementation and we are calling the government to stop and retract the memorandum of understanding," said the statement.

The statement pointed to "conflicting statements" from leaders of Somaliland and Ethiopia on the deal, which allows Ethiopia to obtain a permanent naval base and commercial maritime service in the Gulf of Aden.

Somalia has rejected Ethiopia's Red Sea port deal with Somaliland in January, calling it "illegitimate," a threat to good neighborliness and a violation of its sovereignty.

#Somaliland #Ethiopia

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