Somaliland Foreign affairs and international cooperation ministry released an statement on Tuesday declaring that they are dismissing the council which excluded the breakaway region.

"Somaliland recognizes the strategic importance of the Red Sea for the peace and security of the region and in principal welcomes the need to develop a common position to protect these waters. Because of that recognition Somaliland has long been committed to safeguarding and ensuring that the territorial waters straddling its 850 KM coastline remain safe and secure from piracy and other forms of terrorism” the statement said.


Adding that Somaliland will not recognize the formation of any blocs that exclude legitimate stakeholders based on arbitrary, irrelevant or discriminatory or discriminatory criteria.

The statement comes a day  after The Council of Arab and African States bordering the Red Sea  and Gulf of Aden  including Somalia signed the council’s charter in Saudi capital Riyadh.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt and Yemen  also met in Saudi capital Riyadh and discuss opportunities to work together and strategies for securing the two waterways from piracy, smuggling and regional threats.

- Horn Observer -