Egypt treads cautiously with reelected Somali president
Cairo has little to say about the return of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as Somalia’s president, keeping an eye on the Horn of Africa amid Turkey’s growing influence in the region and the stalled negotiations on Ethiopia’s controversial Nile dam.
CAIRO — The May reelection of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president of Somalia for a second term has raised many questions about its potential impact on Egypt’s interests in the Horn of Africa.
Egypt’s security and political interests in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal directly are affected by Somalian issues, with intertwining and conflicting international and regional interests in the region and the recent emergence of new players such as Turkey, Iran and some Gulf countries as well as Russia and China.
Two days after Mohamud's victory, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a neutral press statement saying the election was an important step toward achieving stability in the country. The statement did not welcome the president nor address his policies but simply reiterated Egypt's “support for peace and stability efforts and the eradication of terrorism.”
No official contacts between Egypt and the Somali president have thus far taken place. Meanwhile, Mohamud received greetings from presidents and officials in neighboring countries such as Ethiopia and Djibouti as well as from Gulf countries and the United States.
