Somalia Nullifies Ethiopia-Somaliland Port Agreement

The move escalates tensions in the Horn of Africa, drawing calls for calm from international bodies.

Somalia's president has signed a law nullifying a contentious agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland, granting Ethiopia access to the Red Sea through Somaliland, a separatist northwestern region over which Somalia exercises little real authority.
The central government in Mogadishu has vowed to oppose the port agreement by any legal means, calling it an act of 'aggression' and a violation of its sovereignty.
Somaliland's leadership has said Ethiopia would 'formally recognise the Republic of Somaliland' under the deal, but this has not been confirmed by the government in Addis Ababa.
The agreement has raised tensions in the Horn of Africa and the African Union, United States, European Union and the Arab League have called for calm and for Somalia's sovereignty to be respected.
Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa and one of the biggest landlocked nations in the world, was cut off from the coast after Eritrea seceded and declared independence in 1993 following a three-decade war.