EXCLUSIVE
In unique Al Jazeera interview, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says makes an attempt to tug Somalia into Center East crises gained’t succeed.
Somalia won’t settle for Israeli presence within the nation “underneath any circumstances” and can resist any makes an attempt to be pulled into the Center East’s crises, its President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud tells Al Jazeera.
Talking in an unique interview, Mohamud mentioned that Israel was planning to ascertain a naval base in Berbera and use the town’s airport, including that its actual goal was to get nearer to the Gulf states and Iran.
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Berbera is a port metropolis on the Gulf of Aden coast in Somaliland – the self-declared republic in northwestern Somalia that Israel recognised final 12 months, however which is claimed by Mogadishu.
Berbera faces Yemen throughout the water close to the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait. The Iran-aligned Houthis have beforehand enforced a blockade on Israel-linked ships within the space.
“We are going to overcome the challenges posed to our nation by Israeli strikes,” Mohamud mentioned in his wide-ranging interview.
He added that the Israeli plans fall underneath the “Greater Israel” undertaking – referring to a time period for varied proposals, typically rooted in biblical interpretations, for Israeli management over territory past its present borders. Some variations lengthen from the Nile to the Euphrates.
Israel has not adopted it as official coverage, however Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned in an August 2025 interview that he felt linked to the imaginative and prescient, prompting condemnation from Arab governments.
The Somali president described Israel as a “destabilising drive” that doesn’t abide by worldwide regulation.
He additionally criticised Tel Aviv’s recognition of Somaliland in December.
No nation aside from Israel recognises Somaliland, whereas the area’s personal residents are fully against an Israeli presence, Mohamud mentioned.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has ruled itself independently for greater than three a long time. But it surely had not secured recognition from any United Nations member state till Israel’s transfer.
Battle in opposition to armed teams
The Somali president advised Al Jazeera the USA stays his nation’s strongest associate within the struggle in opposition to “terrorism”, and added that al-Shabab has no presence within the main cities, leaving no risk of the group taking management in Somalia.
Al-Shabab is a Somali armed group that emerged from the Islamic Courts Union within the mid-2000s and pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2012. It has fought Somalia’s federal authorities for years, holds territory in components of southern and central Somalia, and has carried out lethal assaults, together with in Mogadishu and in neighbouring Kenya.
Relating to the East Africa area, Mohamud mentioned Somalia’s relations with neighbouring Ethiopia are good, and Mogadishu doesn’t object to Addis Ababa getting access to the ocean by Somali territory.
Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea grew to become impartial in 1993 and depends largely on Djibouti’s ports for commerce. In January 2024, Addis Ababa signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea entry, which Somalia condemned as a violation of its sovereignty. Somalia and Ethiopia later agreed to ease tensions.
Houthis ‘destabilising’ area
Mohamud additionally accused Yemen’s Houthis of “destabilising” the area and disrupting navigation within the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
His feedback come because the group makes an attempt to construct on its lightning offensive that captured the nation’s Red Sea coast final month.
To this point, Yemeni authorities forces have been in a position to maintain their positions on the entrance traces and even claimed to have inflicted heavy losses in opposition to the Houthis.
The Houthis have additionally intensified their assaults on Saudi Arabia, however the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has promised to not compromise on its safety, saying the Yemeni rebels selected “chaos and destruction, threatening the Yemeni folks and the area”.
The complete interview with President Mohamud shall be broadcast on Al Jazeera Arabic on Sunday.
