Somaliland opens embassy in Jerusalem, OIC and Somalia condemn
The move comes six months after Israel recognized Somaliland’s independence, stoking a new dispute over Somalia’s sovereignty and Jerusalem’s status.
Somaliland opened an embassy in Jerusalem as President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi visited Israel, six months after Israel became the first country to recognize the territory’s independence. The Israeli prime minister’s office released images of Abdullahi’s meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised the decision to place the diplomatic mission in Jerusalem. Somalia said ties with the separatist administration in its northern region violated the country’s sovereignty. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also condemned the embassy opening, calling it illegal and contrary to the U.N. Charter and resolutions on occupied Jerusalem. Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991, but most U.N. members have not recognized it.