The President of Somalia canceled the Somaliland-Ethiopia port pact

 Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud signed a law "cancelling" the agreement between the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland in northern Somalia and Ethiopia, under which Ethiopia can access the Red Sea through the territory of Somaliland, according to the portal Garowe Online.

On Tuesday, the Somali authorities recalled the ambassador to Ethiopia after Addis Ababa signed a "historic" memorandum of understanding with the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland on Monday, under which Ethiopia can gain access to the Red Sea.

"I signed a law annulling the illegal memorandum of understanding between the Government of Ethiopia and Somaliland. With the support of our legislators and our people, this law is an illustration of our obligation to guarantee our unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with international law," the portal quotes the president's statement.

As Agente France-Presse reports, this law is largely a symbolic gesture of discontent with the Somali government. Somalia strongly opposes Somaliland's claims to independence, but in reality has little impact on the affairs of the unrecognized republic, which has "its own government, security forces and currency", as well as a long coastline on one of the busiest sea routes in the world, the agency points out.

Somalia ceased to exist as a single state in 1991 with the fall of the dictatorial regime of Siad Barre. The only legitimate authority in the country is recognized by the international community as the federal government, which controls the capital city of Mogadishu and a number of other areas. The rest of Somalia is under the control of unrecognized state entities or are self-governing territories. In particular, in the northern part of the country is the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland, in the east - the region of Puntland, which declared autonomy in 1998.