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Emergency Arab Meeting to Discuss Ethiopia's Agreement with Somaliland

A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)
A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)
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Emergency Arab Meeting to Discuss Ethiopia's Agreement with Somaliland

A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)
A protest in Mogadishu denouncing the agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland (AP)

Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday via video conference to discuss the repercussions of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) Ethiopia concluded with the separatist region of Somaliland.
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki announced on Sunday the emergency virtual meeting at the level of foreign ministers next Wednesday to address the consequences of an unlawfully signed agreement between Ethiopia and the Somaliland region.
Under the meeting, landlocked Addis Ababa obtained operational privileges in northwest Somalia's Red Sea area.
Ethiopia seeks to secure a seaport that it has been deprived of for 30 years after Eritrea's independence in 1993.
Somaliland is a former British colony that declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 but was not recognized by the international community.
The MoU concluded on Jan. 1, grants Ethiopia access to 20 kilometers of Somaliland's coast for 50 years through a "lease" agreement.
Addis Ababa indicated that the agreement allows it to establish a permanent naval base and commercial maritime services on the Gulf of Aden, but Somalia rejected it.

The US, the EU, the African Union, the Arab League, Egypt, and Türkiye urged parties to respect Somali sovereignty.
The Arab meeting will be held at the request of Somalia and with the support of 12 Arab countries, according to Zaki.
He indicated that there had been attempts to hold the meeting during the last period, but it was impossible, so they resorted to video conferencing as it is the most practical method.
Morocco, the current president of the regular session of the Arab League, will head the meeting.
Somalia submitted an explanatory memorandum as the one who called for the meeting, said Zaki, explaining that over 12 Arab countries supported the meeting and there was consensus on the Somali position.
He added that the Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, would undoubtedly meet Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud if he was present during the Somali president's visit to Cairo soon.
Somali Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative at the Arab League, Ambassador Elias Sheikh Omar Abu Bakr, announced on Jan. 4 that his country had submitted a request to the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting at the level of Arab foreign ministers.
Abu Bakr stressed the need to take a unified Arab position to respond to Ethiopia's blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia.
He considered Ethiopia's "unilateral measures" constitute a threat to Arab national security and navigation in the Red Sea and an attempt aimed at undermining the sovereignty and independence of the Somali Republic.
The ambassador called on Arab countries to defend Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity under international resolutions and laws.
He stressed the importance of adhering to the rules of good neighborliness to promote peace, security, and stability in the Horn of Africa region, warning of the dangerous repercussions of Ethiopia's move.

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Arab World

Sharaa: Remnants of Former Regime Trying to Drag Syria to Civil War

This grab from a handout video statement released by the Syrian Presidency shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa speaking in Damascus on March 9, 2025. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)
This grab from a handout video statement released by the Syrian Presidency shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa speaking in Damascus on March 9, 2025. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)
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Sharaa: Remnants of Former Regime Trying to Drag Syria to Civil War

This grab from a handout video statement released by the Syrian Presidency shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa speaking in Damascus on March 9, 2025. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)
This grab from a handout video statement released by the Syrian Presidency shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa speaking in Damascus on March 9, 2025. (Syrian Presidency / AFP)

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Sunday that the country has been the victim of “several attempts to undermine its stability and plunge it in chaos.”

In a speech on the latest developments, he warned that the country is facing “a new danger represented in the former regime and foreign parties' attempts to create new strife and drag it to civil war with the aim of dividing it.”

The current threats are not temporary, “but a result of opportunistic attempts by certain parties to prolong the chaos.”

He revealed that similar developments to the ones that have taken place along the coast had happened a month and a half ago and that the authorities had succeeded in stemming them at the time.

“We must acknowledge that the ousted regime inflicted deep wounds during its time in power,” Sharaa went on to say, citing the various prisons where the regime had detained people, “rape, chemical weapons, displacement and the destruction of houses.”

“All of this left wounds that will be difficult to heal and culminated in the latest developments despite the state's attempts to avert them,” he went on to say.

Sharaa stressed that from the very moment the regime was ousted in December, the security forces sent reinforcements to the coast to protect the people and prevent reprisals.

Instead, “these forces were attacked and several of its members were murdered and people were attacked,” he stated.

“The parties that committed these crimes are the same ones who committed the ugly crimes against the Syrian people throughout the past 14 years,” Sharaa added.

He vowed that the authorities will not be lenient “with the regime remnants who committed crimes against our soldiers and state institutions, who attacked hospitals and killed innocent civilians and who spread chaos in safe regions.”

The remnants “have no choice but to turn themselves in to the law,” he urged.

“We will hold to account everyone who shed the blood of the innocent, violated the state authority and abused power to achieve their personal goals,” he went on to say. “They will face justice sooner or later.”

Moreover, Sharaa said an investigation committee has been formed to probe the violence along the coast, bring the perpetrators to justice and reveal the truth to the Syrian people.

Syrian security sources said more than 300 of their members had been killed in clashes with former army personnel owing allegiance to Assad in coordinated attacks and ambushes on their forces that began on Thursday.

Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Sunday that a mass grave had been discovered near Qardaha, Assad's hometown, containing the bodies of recently killed security forces.

The attacks spiraled into revenge killings when thousands of armed supporters of Syria's new leaders from across the country descended to the coastal areas to support beleaguered forces of the new administration.

A security source said Assad loyalists had attacked several public utilities in the last 24 hours, disrupting electricity and water supplies.

The Damascus authorities were also sending reinforcements to beef up their security presence in the mountainous Latakia province, where thick forests in rugged terrain were helping the anti-government fighters, another police source said.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Hassan Abdel Ghani said Sunday that security forces have restored control of the region and will continue pursuing leaders of the regime remnants.