Leader of Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland says deal with Ethiopia will allow it to build a naval base

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The president of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland has said his government will press ahead with an agreement signed earlier this month with landlocked Ethiopia to give it access to the sea by way of Somaliland’s coastline. Earlier this month, a meeting of officials from the African Union, European Union and United States reaffirmed their support for Somalia’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, including the breakaway region of Somaliland. Matt Bryden, a strategic consultant at Sahan Research, a think tank based in Kenya, said several diverse actors in the region could unite against the agreement — including Egypt, Eritrea and even the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants — and oppose a more powerful role of Ethiopia. Egypt, embroiled in a dispute with Ethiopia over Addis Ababa’s construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam that Cairo says could hamper its share of the Nile River water, could also oppose the project, he added.