Issue No.11

On 11 November, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and his Somali counterpart Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met at the sidelines of the Saudi Arabia-Africa summit in Riyadh. Despite Hassan Sheikh's previous comments, the two presidents have forged a close alliance since he came to office last year, with the Somali president visiting Eritrea only last month. Hassan Sheikh is far from the first Somali president Isaias has successfully courted. While the history of the relationship between the two states is undoubtedly chequered, the tumult of the 21st century arguably contrasts with the stability of Eritrean-Somali relations in the 20th. 

After seizing Eritrea in 1890, Italy attempted to expand its colonial reach in the Horn of Africa with the failed invasion of Ethiopia in 1895 and the colonisation of Somalia in 1905. Eritrean-Somali ties under Italian rule developed haphazardly, but the settlement of Eritrean Ascari in Somalia and vice versa created pockets of fertile trade and integration. A neighbourhood in Asmara was even nicknamed the 'Somali Quarter.' 

It took several decades, however, before Ethiopian-controlled Eritrea and newly independent Somalia forged close ties. In 1960, just months after forming the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in Cairo, its new Chairman Idris Mohammed Adem and Supreme Council member Osman Sabbe embarked on an extensive diplomatic tour. Seeking to drum up support for the nascent armed movement against Haile Selassie's Imperial Ethiopia, the two men sought assistance in Somalia. Ethiopia's 19th-century annexation of much of the Ogaden made Mogadishu sympathetic to the Eritrean cause. 

On 20 December 1960, Adem presented 6 requests to the Somali government led by Prime Minister Abdirashid Ali Shermarke and President Aden Abdullah Osman. The requests ranged from establishing a political office in Mogadishu to initiating radio broadcasts in Arabic and Tigrinya to training Eritrean fighters. 

The offering of diplomatic visas was not always straightforward, however. During one of Isaias's frequent visits to Mogadishu in the 1980s, under the alias 'Suleiman Ismael Hirsi,' he sought to procure an Italian visa. Eager to facilitate Isaias's visit, the Italian Consulate promptly issued a visa without proper verification but was furious to discover that the document was actually intended for another Eritrean official. In the 1980s, Isaias Afwerki and other EPLF leaders frequently visited Mogadishu. Isaias often stayed in a suite at Hotel Juba for up to two months, with expenses covered by the Somali government. 

As the ELF splintered in the 1970s and the EPLF and Isaias rose in prominence, Somali support for the liberation movement remained steady. Despite the turmoil of the ELF-EPLF relationship, Somalia, under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, maintained consistent relations with the competing factions. Attempts to foster unity between the groups fell short, partly due to the EPLF's reluctance to merge with the ELF.

Somalia's unwavering support of the Eritrean cause was unique, and it consistently backed the revolution without preferential treatment towards any faction. In the 1980s, support was not limited to politics. The appointment of Yemane Teklegergish as the EPLF's intelligence officer in Somalia brought greater intelligence sharing and military assistance. He developed close ties with senior Somali military officials, including the head of military intelligence, Colonel Bashir, and Vice President and Minister of Defence General Mohamed Ali Samatar. 

Eritrean fighters were subsequently sent to Somalia for military training. In 1986, the EPLF dispatched a group of elite commandos to Mogadishu in a mission to infiltrate Dire Dawa's airport in Ethiopia from Somalia, following a similar successful operation at Asmara's airport. The mission was ultimately abandoned after three unsuccessful attempts to penetrate Dire Dawa's airport. Nevertheless, the assault was sanctioned by Siad Barre and Somalia's defence minister. Isaias also arrived in Mogadishu around the same time as the commandos. 

The fall of the Derg regime in 1991 and the de facto Eritrean independence that soon followed coincided with the collapse of the Somali state. Clearly, Eritrean and Ethiopian support for Mohamed Farah Aidid did not pan out as intended.

The days of relatively stable relationships in the Horn, such as the one between Somalia and Eritrea, are over. Today, tumult and transactionality are the defining features of the region’s politics, with alliances readily made and severed. Somalia's support for the Eritrean liberation movement almost feels archaic. One person, however, has thrived in the instability and emerged on top-- Isaias Afwerki. He has sown seeds of conflict and instability in nearly every neighbouring country and remains utterly ruthless. The ongoing realignment of alliances in the Gulf and Horn must be watched carefully, but no one should underestimate the longevity of Isaias. Hassan Sheikh is simply the latest in a long line of Somali leaders for Isaias.