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President Donald Trump is reportedly working on a move that would give the U.S. a new military and economic foothold in Africa, counter China and Russia and strike a blow against Islamist terrorists in the region. And now a leading senator has told Fox News Digital this goal can be realized by recognizing the breakaway Somaliland as an independent state.
Somaliland, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, broke away from Somalia in 1991. Its government is said to be offering the U.S. a new air and sea base close to the entrance of the Red Sea, and directly across from Yemen and the Houthis, if the U.S. formally recognizes it. Thirty percent of the world’s container ship traffic is reported to pass through its waters en route to or from the Suez Canal.
In the Oval Office on Aug. 8, Trump told reporters, “We’re looking into that right now,” when asked about the recognition of Somaliland and the possible resettlement of Gazans there, adding, “We’re working on that right now, Somaliland”.
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The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., told Fox News Digital, “There is a very real opportunity that President Trump will recognize Somaliland during this administration.”
Cruz added, “President Trump is bringing a new era of clarity in American national security, after four years of the Biden administration rewarding our enemies and punishing our allies, and recognizing Somaliland should be part of this new era.
“Somaliland has been a reliable ally to the United States, is integrating itself with us and our allies globally, and is committed to helping us counter efforts by China to undermine the safety and prosperity of Americans,” he said.
The White House did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Neighboring Somalia has been battling Islamist fundamentalist fighters for decades. U.S. Africa Command has increased the number of airstrikes against both ISIS and al-Shabab terrorists under the current administration.
But Somaliland, 99% Muslim, has allegedly eliminated radicalism and has aligned itself with the U.S. and Israel, leading Cruz to tell Fox News Digital, “They’re a Muslim country, in a very dangerous part of Africa, showing real courage. I will continue to push for deepening the U.S.-Somaliland partnership, including through the Africa Subcommittee in the Senate, and I expect that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will be receptive to doing so.”
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Earlier this month, Cruz wrote to President Trump about Somaliland, stating, “it requires the status of a state. I urge you to grant it that recognition.”
Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi , is optimistic, telling the British Guardian newspaper on May 30, “Recognition is on the horizon.” He added, “It’s a matter of time. Not if, but when”.
Somaliland’s port at Berbera is the jewel in any Washington deal. Analysts say it is in such a strategic position that both Russia and China have tried to acquire it. Right next door to it is one of Africa’s five longest runways, offering the U.S. the possibility of both a sea and air base that can strike Houthi rebels to the north and Al Shabaab terrorists to the east.
In his letter to the White House, Cruz wrote, “Somaliland has emerged as a critical security and diplomatic partner for the United States, helping America advance our national security interests in the Horn of Africa and beyond. It is strategically located along the Gulf of Aden, putting it near one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors. It possesses capable armed forces and contributes to regional counterterrorism and piracy operations. It has proposed hosting a U.S. military presence near the Red Sea along the Gulf of Aden.”
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The U.S.’s largest military base in Africa is just up the coast in Djibouti. But there are security and surveillance issues at the Camp Lemonnier U.S. base where the Chinese and other nations have opened their own bases and monitoring stations nearby.
Somaliland is also offering the White House access to rare earth minerals essential for high-tech industries, such as lithium and silicon quartz.
The U.S. has described Somalia, with large numbers of both ISIS and al-Qaida-linked operatives, as a terrorist safe haven. Now the increasing presence of China and military forces from countries such as Turkey is reportedly leading some in Washington to be increasingly unhappy with its “one Somalia” policy, where Somaliland continues to be recognized only as a part of Somalia.
For now, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital the official position: “The United States recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia, which includes the territory of Somaliland. The State Department is not in active discussions with Somaliland’s representatives about a deal to recognize Somaliland as a state.”
But, Somaliland’s foreign minister worked Washington’s corridors and politicians in April, and several African sources, including the influential Horn Observer news outlet, have reported that President Abdullahi is expected to come to D.C. “soon”. U.S. officials, including the U.S. ambassador to Somalia, Richard Riley, are said to have been to Somaliland to meet with the president at least three times this year.
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