Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud shake hands during bilateral talks in Alamein on the margins of the four-country summit, 5 October 2026 (Yemane G. Meskel / @hawelti, via X)
The leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan declared after a summit in New Alamein on Sunday that governance of the Red Sea is the exclusive responsibility of coastal states.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi hosted Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council. The declaration, published by the Egyptian presidency, also affirmed freedom of navigation and rejected unilateral measures that harm downstream Nile water use, a reference Egypt and Sudan have long aimed at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Ethiopia says the dam is lawful and causes no lasting harm.
Al Jazeera said the Red Sea language appeared to push back against Ethiopia’s pursuit of sovereign sea access. The declaration also backed Somalia’s territorial integrity, rejected recognition of Somaliland and supported Sudan’s unity. The leaders agreed to set up a follow-up mechanism. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera that Mogadishu does not object to Ethiopia gaining commercial access through Somali ports if agreed with Somalia.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel wrote on X that Ethiopia already has commercial port access but had chosen “an agenda of aggression and war against Eritrea”; his account of Ethiopia’s intentions has not been verified. Former Egyptian assistant foreign minister Hussein Haridy told Arab News the summit was “not directed against any third party.”
The summit followed Ethiopia’s break in diplomatic relations with Eritrea and the expulsion of diplomats between Ethiopia and Egypt. Ethiopian officials have accused Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of backing the armed alliance fighting the federal Government, which all three deny.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry replied on Monday without naming the four states, saying Ethiopia is the source of the Abay, lies barely 30 miles from the Red Sea coast, and that geographic facts cannot be altered by political rhetoric or coercion.
Sources: