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Mauritania summons Malian ambassador over ‘criminal act’ on citizens at borders

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The foreign ministry of Mauritanian on Tuesday accused Mali’s army of crimes against Mauritanians after protesters in the capital charged they had been killed “in cold blood”.

The ministry summoned the Malian ambassador to protest the recurring acts.

Mauritania shares a 2,000-kilometre (1,200-mile) border with Mali, where the junta seized power in 2020.

Mali’s ambassador Mohamed Dibassy had been called in to hear a “strong protest against the recent, recurring criminal acts”, committed by the army following the disappearance of several citizens just over the border, the ministry said.

Dozens of people had demonstrated earlier in the day outside the presidency demanding revenge and an end to disappearances they said had been carried out by Mali’s soldiers over recent days.

Protesters held up placards claiming the Mauritanians had been killed “in cold blood” in the border area south of Adel Bagrou, in the east of Mali.

Mauritanian Member of Parliament, Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Henenna, told newsmen that at least 15 of his countrymen had been killed.

The government in Nouakchott promised to investigate, but there was no immediate response to the charges from Mali.

Seven Mauritanians died in Mali in the same region, near Nara, in January. The Bamako authorities announced an inquiry and said there was no evidence linking the army to the deaths.

Unverified voice recordings posted on social media quote witnesses blaming the Malian army for the disappearance of as many as 30 Mauritanians.

The ministry noted in a statement carried by the national news agency that a senior Mauritanian delegation had gone to Mali after the January deaths “to try to contain this hostile behaviour towards our citizens”.

“Despite the assurances given” by the Mali authorities, their response had been “below expectations”

A Mauritanian diplomat, speaking anonymously, offered a warning to the junta in Bamako.

“We have clearly told the Malians that if this continues, we will close the border,” he said.

Mali has sought to improve ties with Nouakchott since the West African ECOWAS bloc of nations, Guinea apart, closed their borders with Mali in January to sanction the junta for delaying a return to civilian power.

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Ethiopia, Somalia agree to resolve Somaliland port conflict

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Ethiopia and Somalia agreed to cooperate in settling a disagreement over Addis Ababa’s proposal to construct a port in Somaliland. This breakaway area had attracted regional powers, posing a further threat to the stability of the Horn of Africa.

Following discussions facilitated by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, the leaders of the two nations said that they had reached an agreement to create business agreements that would provide landlocked Ethiopia “reliable, secure and sustainable access to and from the sea.”

The meeting was their first since Ethiopia announced in January that it would recognise the independence of Somaliland, a breakaway entity in northern Somalia, in exchange for leasing a port there.

The agreement was rejected by Mogadishu, which also threatened to drive out Ethiopian forces fighting Islamist terrorists in Somalia.

Somaliland, which has governed itself and had relative peace and stability since announcing its independence in 1991, is opposed by Somalia to international recognition.

Ethiopia and Somalia announced in a joint statement issued late Wednesday that they had agreed to begin technical talks by the end of February of next year and to wrap them up in four months.

“This joint declaration focuses on the future, not the past,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Ankara afterwards.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed praised Turkish attempts to settle the conflict, while Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared he was prepared to cooperate with Ethiopia.

The dispute has brought Somalia closer to Eritrea, another of Ethiopia’s longstanding enemies, and Egypt, which has been at odds with Ethiopia for years over Addis Ababa’s development of a massive hydro project on the Nile River.

Ethiopia and Somalia are close partners of Turkey, which provides development aid and security force training to Somalia in exchange for a foothold on a vital international shipping route.

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Officials report fight between Somalia’s Jubbaland region, central govt

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After Jubbaland staged an election against the advice of the Mogadishu administration, officials claimed on Wednesday that fighting had broken out between the federal government and the semi-autonomous Jubbaland region of Somalia.

“This morning, federal forces from Mogadishu in Ras Kamboni, using drones, attacked Jubbaland forces,” Adan Ahmed Haji, assistant security minister of Jubbaland, told a press conference in Jubbaland’s capital Kismayu.

Response requests were not immediately answered by Interior Minister Yusuf Ali or Information Minister Daud Aweis of the national administration.

Jubbaland, one of Somalia’s five semi-autonomous republics that borders Ethiopia and Kenya, elected regional president Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe to a third term in late November.

 

Jubbaland has the potential to be one of Somalia’s richest districts due to its location and natural resources, but for more than 20 years, violence has kept it permanently unsettled.

There are no explicit guidelines in the Somali constitution regarding the establishment of recently formed federal entities or their interactions with the national government.

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