Strategic expert Samir Farag said on Monday that there is no intention to establish an Egyptian military base on Somali territory.
He explained that Egypt, through its military presence in Somalia, aims to raise the efficiency of the Somali armed forces to be able to confront terrorist groups.
During an interview with Ahmed Moussa’s TV show “Ala Massoulity” (On My Responsibility) on the privately-owned satellite channel Sada al-Balad, Farag said that, “The goal of the Egyptian military presence in Somalia is to preserve the unity of the country and prevent any threats to navigation in the Red Sea.”
The presence of Egyptian military forces in Somalia comes at its request, he noted, and under the umbrella of the African Union’s peacekeeping forces.
He also assured that this military presence is not directed against any country in the region.
“Our primary role through the military presence in Somalia is as experts and financing some weapons and ammunition to help the Somali army,” he explained, noting that, “There is a group of separatists who seized an area of Somalia and named it Somaliland, and an Ethiopian military base was established there in an attempt to interfere in Somali affairs and threaten the security of the region.”
The expert said that “Ships coming to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have started to go via the Cape of Good Hope because of the events in the Red Sea.”
Farag concluded by saying, “Ethiopia has been seeking to reach seaports since Eritrea separated from it, and wants to ease the burden of trade passing through Djibouti, which costs its budget US$1.5 billion annually, an amount that has exhausted the Ethiopian economy.”
