Egypt to demand lead African Union role in fight against Al Shabab in Somalia

Egypt and Somalia to hold talks in Cairo this weekend to discuss contribution to new AU force, as row with Ethiopia over Nile dam continues

The Nile snaking through central Cairo. A dam being built by Ethiopia is at the centre of a long-running dispute between the two nations. AP

Egypt will tell Somalia in talks this weekend that it wants the two allies to jointly steer a new African Union mission due to be deployed later this month to the Horn of Africa nation, sources have told The National.

Egypt sees its participation in the new AU mission in Somalia as a significant step in its efforts to broaden its footprint and gain an advantageous position in the strategic region, the sources said.

These efforts are designed largely to counter the influence of Ethiopia, with which Cairo has been locked in a decade-long dispute over a large Nile dam Addis Ababa is building, a project Cairo views as a serious threat to its water security.

Egypt already has military bases in Eritrea and Djibouti, and has in recent years struck military co-operation accords with, besides Somalia, Nile basin states Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo – steps taken to bolster Cairo's presence in that part of Africa and pressure Addis Ababa to adopt a flexible position on the row over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Of these accords, the one Egypt and Somalia signed last year is by far the most comprehensive. Under its provisions, Egypt already has a military contingent in Somalia numbering in the low thousands.

Mostly drawn from elite units, the Egyptians are training Somalia's security forces in counterterrorism, securing key state installations and the safety of top government officials. It has also supplied Somalia with arms and is sharing intelligence with its fellow Arab League member.

Egypt has been beefing up its contingent there in anticipation of its participation in the new AU force authorised by the UN Security Council late last month and mandated to fight the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab group.

Formally called the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (Aussom), the mission will replace the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis), the mandate of which ended on December 31.

Tensions between landlocked Ethiopia and Somalia flared a year ago after Addis Ababa signed a maritime deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland to gain access to the Red Sea. Somalia, which viewed the deal as a breach of its sovereignty, responded by declaring it did not want Ethiopian troops to serve in Aussom, arguing that they had not effectively reduced the threat posed by Al Shabab.

However, Mogadishu's relations with Addis Ababa have somewhat thawed following a Turkish mediation between the two neighbours, but no concrete steps are known to have been taken to resolve the Somali-Ethiopian dispute since Ankara's intervention was announced.

The size of Aussom and the Egyptian contingent have yet to be announced, although Somali officials say 11,000 men have already been pledged. The sources told The National last month that the Egyptian contingent would make up about 25 per cent of the new mission.

Ali Balcad, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, was quoted by Bloomberg this week saying it remains unclear how many Ethiopian troops will be allowed to operate in Somalia. Addis Ababa is known to have some 10,000 men in Somalia, including several thousand operating under bilateral accords outside Atmis.

The defence ministers of Egypt and Somalia met in Cairo on Thursday, according to a statement by the Egyptian military spokesman. It cited the Somali minister Abdul Qader Mohammed Nour as saying Mogadishu appreciated military co-operation between the two nations and welcomed Egypt's participation in the new AU mission.

The statement did not provide any further details but the sources said the Somali minister had reassured his Egyptian counterpart, Gen Abdel Meguid Saqr, that Cairo's contingent in the AU mission will replace the Ethiopians, whose presence in Somalia would be declared illegal if they refuse to return home when asked by the Somali government.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, meanwhile, will on Saturday meet separately with Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Fiqi and Osman Saleh, his counterpart from Eritrea, a close Egyptian ally and on-and-off enemy of Ethiopia, according to a note sent to the media by Egypt's foreign ministry.

The three ministers will later participate in a meeting of a co-operation council grouping the three nations, said the ministry.

“Egypt will during the talks lay out plans for the new mission, including the deployment of its forces and the command structure,” said one source. “It wants to jointly take the lead with the Somali government in how the mission operates, including the assignment of locations and tasks."

He added: “The military co-operation agreement between Egypt and Somalia gives Cairo an edge over other participating nations in the new mission.”

The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile's water has driven Cairo in recent years to vigorously pursue closer relations in Africa, where Addis Ababa wields considerable influence, partially due to its control of the source of the Blue Nile, by far the river's largest tributary, and because it is home to the headquarters of the AU.

One of the world's driest nations, the depth of Egypt's tussle with Ethiopia is rooted in the Arab nation's dependence on the Nile for nearly all its freshwater needs. It has repeatedly said its share of the river's water is a matter of national security and that Ethiopia's dam poses an existential threat to its 107 million people.

More than a decade of talks with Ethiopia have failed to produce an agreement. Cairo wants a legally binding deal on the running and filling of the dam. Ethiopia contends that the dam is not a threat to the water security of Egypt and insists the project is vital to its development.

“The River Nile, specifically, is an issue associated with the life and survival of Egyptians,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi recently said. “It is the chief source of life in our nation. Egypt is the gift of the glorious river.”