MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s defence minister, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, has urged Saudi Arabia to carry out a military intervention against Somaliland, urging Riyadh to replicate its Yemen campaign that weakened and dismantled the Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatist forces.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Mr Fiqi said Saudi Arabia and other countries bordering the Red Sea had a responsibility to act against what he described as separatists in northern Somalia, led by Abdirahman Irro, the president of Somaliland.
His remarks came in the context of the shifting balance of power in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia recently outmanoeuvred the United Arab Emirates in their proxy struggle, disbanding much of the STC and enabling Yemeni government forces to reclaim territory previously held by UAE-backed separatists.
The Somali defence minister reiterated that Mogadishu would consider the use of military force, alongside other options, should Israel establish a military presence in Somaliland or attempt to forcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza to the region.
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Asked whether Mogadishu feared Israel’s military power, he said Somalis had confronted far stronger adversaries under far more difficult circumstances over centuries, fighting colonial rule and defending their rights, and would similarly resist Israel if it violated Somali territory.
The defence minister said Israel’s objective in recognising Somaliland was to relocate Palestinians to the region and to establish military bases that would threaten the security of other countries along the Red Sea, an outcome he said Somalia would not accept under any circumstances.
Fiqi added that Israel was seeking occupation in a manner similar to its occupation of Palestine and aimed to replicate that model in Somaliland and along the Red Sea, annexing territories that are part of sovereign states.
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