The Bab el Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, in a satellite image dated October 8, 2019. Photo: Coordenação-Geral de Observação da Terra/INPE / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 [file photo]
Djibouti’s foreign minister signed three agreements with Libya and met Egypt’s foreign minister in Tripoli. Egypt used the meeting to call for closer coordination among Red Sea coastal states on the waterway’s security.
Foreign Minister Abdoulkader Houssein Omar was in the Libyan capital for the 22nd Executive Council session of the Community of Sahel Saharan States (CEN-SAD), a regional bloc. On Friday, November 6, he and Libya’s acting foreign minister, Taher Baour, signed three memorandums of understanding, the Libyan news agency LANA reported. One lets holders of diplomatic, special and service passports travel without visas. The second covers training of diplomats, and the third sets up regular political talks between the two ministries.
On Saturday, he met Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty. Egypt’s foreign ministry said the two men talked about trade, investment, energy, ports, logistics and sea links. They also discussed political and security developments in Sudan and Somalia. Abdelatty stressed the security of the Red Sea and freedom of navigation, and called for closer coordination among the states on the Red Sea coast, stressing their role in its security and governance.
Djibouti’s foreign ministry posted photos on X of the minister’s meetings with Libyan officials in Tripoli. As of Sunday evening, it had not posted its own account of the meeting with Egypt. No military or port agreement between Djibouti and Egypt was announced.
Djibouti sits on the Bab el Mandeb strait, the narrow entrance to the Red Sea, and hosts military bases of several foreign powers. It is also the main sea outlet for Ethiopia, which has no coast and has said it wants its own access to the sea. Last month, Egypt hosted a consultative summit at El Alamein on the region.
Egypt has also built closer ties with Somalia and Eritrea in recent years, including military cooperation. Djibouti has tried to keep good relations with both Egypt and Ethiopia, which is one of its main trading partners.
Sources
- Libyan News Agency (LANA), Libya and Djibouti sign three memoranda of understanding, Nov 7
- SEE News, Egypt and Djibouti discuss bilateral ties and Red Sea security, Nov 7
- Hiiraan Online, Egypt, Somalia, Djibouti reaffirm Red Sea states’ role, Nov 7 to 8
- Djibouti Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@MAECIDJIBOUTI), CEN-SAD session, Nov 7
- Djibouti Ministry of Foreign Affairs (@MAECIDJIBOUTI), Libya agreements, Nov 6