Somalia offers US access to military bases

Somalia offered to renew a deal that allows the US to access its ports and airports for military purposes, countering a similar proposal by the breakaway region of Somaliland, Report informs via Al Arabia.

"Somalia and the US have a longstanding cooperation framework, including a 1980 agreement on port and airport access for US military purposes," Ali Mohamed Omar Balcad, the state minister for foreign affairs, said in response to questions. "The federal government has recently offered to renew that agreement, which remains the appropriate and lawful channel for any security cooperation."

Foreign powers including the US are fostering deeper military cooperation with Somalia, drawn by its strategic location at the gateway to the Red Sea and its proximity to Yemen, where Houthi militants threaten key shipping routes.

In recent decades, US engagement with the country has centered on counter-terrorism operations targeting the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab insurgency and ISIS fighters.

Balcad"s comments came a day after a senior Somaliland official said the semi-autonomous region is prepared to offer US access to its minerals and military bases, part of an effort to broaden its diplomatic ties. Somalia considers Somaliland - which Israel became the first country to recognize as an independent state in December - part of its sovereign territory.

"Somalia"s position is straightforward: all agreements involving Somalia"s territory, ports, airspace, or strategic natural resources must be concluded through the constitutional institutions of the Federal Republic of Somalia," Balcad said. "Any announcement by a regional administration that implies ‘exclusive rights" in the minerals sector, or seeks to bind external parties, has no legal validity."