In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Fiki called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw its diplomatic recognition of the “separatist zone”, calling the move announced late last year a “direct attack” on Somalia’s sovereignty.
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“Israel has had goals and plans to divide countries for a long time – probably 20 years ago – and it wants to divide the map of the Middle East and control its countries… That’s why they found this separatist group in north-western Somalia,” Fiki told Al Jazeera.
“We have confirmed information that Israel has plans to relocate Palestinians and send them to (Somaliland),” he said, without elaborating.
Fiki’s comments came amid global outrage over Netanyahu’s decision in December to recognize Somaliland, a breakaway part of Somalia that includes a northwestern part that was once a British protectorate.
The move made Israel the first country in the world to recognize Somaliland as an independent state and came months after the Associated Press news agency reported that Israeli officials had contacted parties in Somalia, Somaliland and Sudan to discuss using their territory to forcibly displace Palestinians amid its genocidal war on Gaza.
Somalia condemned Israel’s move, with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud telling Al Jazeera that Somaliland had accepted three conditions from Israel: resettlement of Palestinians, establishment of a military base on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, and joining the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel.
Somaliland officials have denied agreeing to resettle Palestinians from Gaza and said there has been no discussion on an Israeli military base in the area.
But Fiki reiterated on Saturday that Israel “wants to build a military base to destabilize the region” on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea.
“I see it as an occupation to destabilize the region,” Fiki said.
He also stressed that Israel has no legal authority to legitimize any territory within a sovereign state.
Somaliland first declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but since then it has failed to gain recognition from any UN member state.
Israel’s world-first announcement sparked protests in Somalia and sharp criticism from dozens of countries and organizations, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the African Union.
Fiki told Al Jazeera that Israel’s move falls within its decades-old goal of controlling the Middle East and accused Israel of exploiting separatist movements in the region. He said about half of the areas formerly known as Somaliland have declared their affiliation with Somalia in the past two years.
The minister praised countries that had condemned Israel and pledged that Somalia would resort to all diplomatic and legal means to reject Israel’s “violations”.
He also praised the administration of United States President Donald Trump for not recognizing Somaliland.
Although the US was the only member of the 15-member UN Security Council not to condemn Israel for its December 30 recognition, it said its position on Somaliland had not changed.
For its part, Somaliland’s ruling party has defended its new ties with Israel following a visit earlier this week by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Hargeisa, the region’s largest city and self-declared capital.
Hersi Ali Haji Hassan, president of the ruling Waddani party, told Al Jazeera a few days later that Somaliland “is not in a position to choose” who will provide it with legitimacy after decades of being shunned by the international community.
“We are in a position of needing official international recognition,” Hassan said. “We have no option but to welcome any country that recognizes our right to exist.”
Hassan did not rule out the possibility of a possible military base.
“We have started diplomatic relations… this topic (military base) has not been discussed yet,” he said.
When pressed on whether Somaliland would accept such a request in the future, Hassan described the inquiry as “premature”, saying only “questions will be asked when the time comes”.
The Israeli think tank says Somaliland’s location, at the entrance to the Red Sea and across from Yemen, makes it a strategic site for operations against the Yemeni Houthi rebel group, which imposed a naval blockade on Israeli-linked shipping ahead of a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza.
The Institute for National Security Studies said in a November report that the region of Somaliland “could serve as a forward base” for intelligence monitoring of the Houthis and “a staging area for direct operations” against them.
The Houthis said any Israeli presence would be targeted, with Somaliland’s former intelligence chief Mustafa Hassan saying in a statement that it was tantamount to a declaration of war.
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