Mogadishu’s stability and integrity is a key pillar of security and stability to Egypt, the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa region, and to regional and international peace and security, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty said this week.
His statement came on the sidelines of the Second Extraordinary Summit of Troop-Contributing Countries to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) held in the Ugandan capital Kampala last weekend.
Columnist Emadeddin Hussein said that it is not a secret that Somalia has become a target for various parties to achieve their interests or ambitions. Egypt has repeatedly rejected any attempts to divide Somalia, especially if they are carried out by Israel or Ethiopia.
Israel was the first country to recognise the self-declared region of Somaliland, a move that was followed by an official Israeli visit to that region and then the opening of an embassy in Jerusalem.
This “recognition is seen in Egyptian and Arab circles as a message that Israel is trying to redraw the map of the Arab and Middle East regions as well as that of the Horn of Africa,” Hussein explained.
The Kampala summit was an opportunity for Abdelatty to re-affirm Egypt’s firm commitment to supporting Somali state institutions and preserving Somalia’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
The discussions focused on the importance of maintaining AUSSOM as well as the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), ensuring their continued operations through sustained financial support in order to preserve security, stability, and unity in Somalia.
During his meetings with Special Representative of the Chairperson of AUSSOM El-Hadji Ibrahima Diene, Director of UNSOS Qurat-ul-Ain Sadozai, and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia Raisedon Zenenga, Abdelatty underscored the importance of providing sustainable funding for AUSSOM and UNSOS, expressing concern over the challenges facing the mission.
During meetings held on the sidelines of the summit, Egypt’s top diplomat called on international partners and members of the UN Security Council to continue supporting the mission and ensuring it has the resources needed to carry out its mandate in Somalia effectively.
The Kampala summit also saw other important meetings on its sidelines, including Abdelatty’s meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, during which he reaffirmed Egypt’s unwavering support for Somalia’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity, stressing Cairo’s rejection of any measures or arrangements that undermine the unity of the Somali state.
Abdelatty also repeated Egypt’s condemnation of the unacceptable move by Somaliland to open a purported embassy in Occupied East Jerusalem.
He met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday on the sidelines of the summit.
During this meeting, Abdelatty renewed Egypt’s invitation to President Museveni to attend the African Union Mid-Year Coordination Summit scheduled to be held in Alamein city on Egypt’s North Coast in October, as well as the African Business Forum, which will be held on the sidelines of that summit.
The talks focused on ways to strengthen bilateral relations and coordinate positions on issues of mutual interest.
During his meeting with Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission, Abdelatty focused on strengthening cooperation between Egypt and the AU and the developments in Somalia.
The two officials also reviewed preparations for the AU Coordination Summit, as well as exchanging views on regional and continental developments, particularly in Sudan and the Horn of Africa.
On water security, an issue that Egypt is keen to raise in all international venues, Abdelatty stressed the importance of cooperation among the Nile Basin states to achieve mutual interests, a reference to Addis Ababa’s intransigence and refusal to reach a legally binding agreement on the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egypt’s approach, explained one diplomat who preferred to remain anonymous, is no longer linked only to the GERD, since it has shifted towards establishing a network in Addis Ababa’s three main sea-access points of Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.
This shift in approach gives Egypt more opportunities to put pressure on Ethiopia on the GERD issue, he explained.
AUSSOM was established in August 2024 to succeed the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). It supports the Somali government in consolidating gains made against the Al-Shabab group and strengthening state institutions ahead of a full security handover.
Egypt announced at the time that it would contribute troops and logistical support to AUSSOM, its first major peacekeeping deployment under the AU framework in over a decade and indicating Cairo’s renewed engagement on regional stability and African-led solutions in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.
Egypt’s commitment to Somali security has been an ongoing process that Cairo has been keen to highlight.
Last month, Abdelatty met with his Somali counterpart Abdisalam Abdi Ali in Cairo to discuss the challenges facing the Horn of Africa and Red Sea regions. The meeting came on the same day as another meeting with his Eritrean counterpart Osman Saleh.
The three countries are members of the Council of Arab and African States Bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and all three are facing threats to their security from Ethiopia, which considers its presence on the Red Sea to be an existential matter, and Israel.
The latter has established an illegal presence in the northern Red Sea through the port of Eilat. It is also working to establish a similar presence in the south of the Red Sea through its links to Somaliland.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 August, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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