Six months after being recognized by Israel, Somaliland has opened an embassy in Jerusalem.
At the opening ceremony on Monday, the president of the East African region, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, described it as a great honour. He said it was a special moment for him to open Somaliland’s first diplomatic mission anywhere in the world.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, but was not recognized internationally for a long time.
It was only last December that Israel recognized the predominantly Muslim region in northern Somalia as an independent state. Several countries in the region condemned this move.
The government in Mogadishu continues to firmly reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland.
The status of Jerusalem is disputed under international law. Israel regards the entire city as its “eternal capital,” while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, this is the eighth diplomatic mission to be opened in Jerusalem.
