Egypt and Somalia SIS Chairman Publisher State Information Diaa Rashwan Service Author Abdelmoeti Abouzaid 3 Al-Estad Al- Head of Foreign Information Sector Bahary St., Nasr City, Cairo Documentation Mohamed El-Hussini Tel. : 002 02 22610761 Translation Fax.: 002 02 22608444 Sally Hassan Email : Layout Web Site : Eng. Rania Saleh Cover Abeer Ahmed Cairo Printing Supervision 2019 Eng. Eman Gaafar Technical Supervision Not for sale Hossam Amin Free of charge Content This series ...................................................................................... 5 This book . ...................................................................................... 7 Chapter I: History and Development of Relations between Egypt and Somalia...................................................................................9 Chapter II: Political relations.......................................................... 15 Chapter III: Economic and Trade Relations .....................................27 Chapter IV: Cultural and Media Relations.......................................31 4 This series: Egypt’s presidency of the African Union in 2019 is seen as a tribute from its African brothers and a trust that is cherished by Egypt and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. Egypt, on all levels, considers this leadership an honor, a responsibility and a trust that should be met to achieve all the interests of the African continent and to promote solidarity among its peoples. As part of its mission and role as an Egyptian public information institution, the State Information Service has launched a series of activities in the fields of visual, electronic and printed media. Among those activities, the SIS is issuing this series of books that are printed or published electronically on the SIS website, starting with the issuance of a comprehensive book entitled «Egypt and Africa» and then, the publication of a series of books; each focuses on an African country and Egypt’s relations with it, so as to reinforce understanding among the peoples of the continent, enrich the Egyptian people knowledge on the African brothers, communicate with the African peoples in their own languages and raise the awareness of the readers in Africa and everywhere else on the people of each country in the continent, their potentialities and their role in the march of human civilization. We hope that this series of books would act as a nucleus of a comprehensive African Library and would boost the mutual interest of the peoples of the continent in pursuit of a better tomorrow for all of us. 5 6 This book: Ties between Egypt and Somalia are far beyond the present moment, deeper than the geographical proximity and the Arab-Islamic identity they share, and broader than the economic and cultural cooperative relations. The Egypt- Somalia relations are the fruit of the aforementioned ties. Historically, the relations between ancient Egyptians and the region of the land of Punt dated back a long time. In modern times, Egypt, under the leadership of Gamal Abdel Nasser, was an influential partner in all stages of Somalia’s battle for independence and the building of its modern State. Following the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia in 1991, Egypt sought solutions to put an end to the fighting, hosted several conferences on Somalia and took part in all international initiatives aimed to achieve stability in Somalia. In recent years, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has paid great attention to develop the Egyptian-Somali relations supporting efforts to achieve peace, stability and development for the brotherly people of Somalia. In this context, Egypt witnessed eight Somali presidential visits from 2014 to 2019, as former Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud paid five visits to Cairo in June, November, December 2014 and March 2015. Also, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo visited Egypt in August 2017, February 2019 and April 2019. Since then, the relations between the two countries have been significantly strengthened especially in the fields of culture and economy. This book, published in Arabic and English versions, attempts to emphasize the relations between the two countries relying on credible Egyptian and Somali sources as well as to provide an overview of the profile of the Federal Republic of Somalia at various levels so as to enrich the knowledge of the Egyptian and Arab peoples of the friendly African country. 7 Chapter I History and Development of Egypt - Somalia Relations In the past, Somalia was one of the most important centers of trade in the ancient world; Somali sailors and traders were the main suppliers of frankincense (mastic), myrrh and spices, which were considered the key products for ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians and Babylonians who established business relations with Somali trader. The historical relationship between ancient Egyptians and the land of Punt (Somalia now) goes back a long time, perhaps when Queen Hatshepsut, the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, sent an expedition in the Red Sea carrying gifts and Egyptian goods such as papyrus and linen to the land of Punt. The King of Pont received the expedition well, and then sent large quantities of rare animals, timber, incense, ebony, ivory, leather and precious stones to Queen Hatshepsut who engraved the news of the expedition in bright colors and beautiful engravings on the walls of the Dayr Al-Bahri temple (The Monastery of the Sea) on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor governorate in bright colors. In recent times, the brotherly bilateral relationship between Egypt and Somalia became more entrenched when Egyptians, under the leadership of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, sided with the Somalis in their fight against colonialism. President Nasser declared his support for the Somali forces of the nation to maintain the Arab-Islamic identity of Somalia and the integrity of the Somali land. By 1955, when Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke 9 -the Somali leader who became the prime minister and then the president of Somalia- aspired to establish an army to withstand the enemies of his country, he toured Europe to obtain support but no country responded. He came to Egypt to meet President Nasser and he said «My meeting with leader Gamal Abdel Nasser was a turning point in our history…Nasser decided to provide us with weapons…He said he would share the weapons Egypt had…He kept his promise and word. A strong relationship was established between the Egyptian army and the Somali one. Since then, Nasser has been quick to meet all the demands we put forward, and has been keen on preparing a generation of well- educated and qualified young people to undertake the affairs of the country…He was keen to see Somalia stable and prosperous assuming a prominent position as one of the beacons of the Arab and Islamic culture among the countries of the region». Thus, Egypt was an influential partner to Somalia in all stages of the battle for the independence and the building of the modern State. On 17/4/1957, the precious blood of Egyptians has mixed with the blood of the Somali brothers when the treacherous hands of colonialism extended to assassinate the distinguished Egypt’s representative to the Somali Advisory Council the diplomat Mohamed Kamal Al-Din Salah was in charge of strengthening the foundations of the newly established modern State of Somalia through reinforcing the political and governmental institutions. The assassination grieved the Somali and Egyptian peoples and affirmed their shared destiny, as both countries were confronting colonialism and domination at that time. At the meeting of the United Nations Trusteeship Council on Somalia, Dr. Mohamed Hassan, Egypt’s representative to the Somali Advisory Council (who succeeded Mohamed Kamal Al-Din Salah) when asked about the appropriate time for the independence of Somalia, he said: «Somalia deserves independence since its people were born free, and no one shall enslave them, and for this purpose we spare no effort for our brothers in Somalia». Egypt was at the forefront of the countries that recognized the independence of Somalia in 1960, and provided all support and assistance to the brotherly Somali people after independence. 10 In October 1961, President Nasser received Somali President Aden Abdulle Osman in Egypt with a warm hospitality and hosted him in the presidential palace. The two Presidents discussed the situation of Somalia alongside several African issues. This visit had great impact on the march of the Egyptian-Somali relations. When the Somali revolution led by President Siad Barre took place, he declared: «The Somali revolution is the legitimate and faithful child of the July 23th revolution and the thought of the revolutionary leader Gamal Abdel Nasser”, which reflected the impact of the Egyptian role on the Somali thought and the leaders of Somalia. Just as Egyptians stood by Somalia in their struggle against British and Italian colonialism, they were also ready to backing Somalia in the post- independence period in various areas, especially in education, where Egyptian schools and professors were present in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, along with Al-Azhar missions and teachers who played a major role in spreading the science and teachings of moderate Islam over Somalia. This emphasized the respect and friendliness of Somali scientists to the Holy Azhar. Also, the Egyptian missions have played a leading role in creating cadres in the sector of education and its Arabization in Somalia. In an affirmation of the brotherly bilateral relations