The Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have condemned the intention of Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia, to open an embassy in Jerusalem, Israel.
Gamal Roshdy, spokesperson for the Arab League Secretary-General, in a statement said on Thursday that Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit discussed the shifting of the geopolitical landscape in the Horn of Africa, raising alarms over Israeli influence in the region.
Roshdy said the discussions centered on regional stability and a coordinated response to a controversial move by Somaliland, which reportedly plans to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem. Both leaders strongly condemned the plan, viewing it as a direct threat to Arab and regional consensus.
“The discussions emphasized the absolute necessity of safeguarding Somalia’s sovereignty, stability, and territorial integrity, while firmly rejecting any attempts to undermine its independence,” Roshdy said in a statement.
Meanwhile the OIC General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the intention of the so-called “Somaliland” to open an embassy in al-Quds in a sign of the Israeli regime’s deepening ties with the breakaway region in the Horn of Africa.
The General Secretariat expressed in a press statement its grave concern and strong condemnation of media reports regarding the intention of “Somaliland” to open a so-called “embassy” in occupied Jerusalem, slamming the move as “flagrant defiance of the will of the entire international community” and a “grave violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter and relevant UN resolutions.”
It said this illegal move comes in the context of “Israel’s desperate and illegitimate attempts to extract false recognitions from illegitimate and internationally unrecognized entities – including the so-called “Somaliland” region – to consolidate its illegitimate and purported sovereignty over the occupied city of Jerusalem, in flagrant violation of the principles of international law.”
It affirmed that “Israel, the occupying power, has no sovereignty over East Jerusalem al-Quds, the capital of the State of Palestine, and that any measures aimed at altering its political, demographic, or geographical status are null and void under international law.”
Somaliland, which unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has long sought international recognition, a move fiercely opposed by the central government in Mogadishu.
MG/as/APA