cooperation

Somalia has signed a “military cooperation” agreement with Saudi Arabia, weeks after inking a similar deal with Qatar, as Mogadishu seeks regional support against Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland.

The memorandum of understanding was signed on Monday between Somali Minister of Defence Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, in Riyadh.

The agreement “aims to strengthen the frameworks of defense and military cooperation between the two countries, and includes multiple areas of common interest, serving the strategic interests of both parties”, Somalia’s Ministry of Defence said.

Prince Khalid confirmed the agreement in a post on X.

But neither country provided further details.

Last month, Somalia signed a defence pact with Qatar, aimed at “strengthening military ties and security collaboration”, according to the Somali state news agency.

The pact with Qatar “focuses on military training, the exchange of expertise, the development of defence capabilities, and enhanced security cooperation, in support of efforts to promote regional security and stability”, it said.

Doha said the agreement was “aimed at strengthening areas of joint cooperation in a way that serves mutual interests and enhances defense partnerships”.

The diplomatic offensive by Somalia comes amid growing tensions in the Horn of Africa region following Israel’s world-first recognition of Somaliland in December. Mogadishu has warned that Israel plans to set up a military base in the breakaway region, which could be used to launch attacks on neighbouring countries.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Al Jazeera last week that Mogadishu “will never allow” the establishment of an Israeli base in Somaliland and will “confront” any such move.

“We will fight in our capacity. Of course, we will defend ourselves,” he said. “And that means that we will confront any Israeli forces coming in, because we are against that and we will never allow that.”

A Somaliland official told Israel’s Channel 12 in January that an Israeli military base is “on the table”, though terms were still being negotiated.

Separately, Somalia also cancelled all agreements with the United Arab Emirates last month – including port operations, security and defence deals – citing “harmful actions” that undermine its “national unity and political independence”.

The move came amid reports that the UAE had facilitated Israel’s recognition of Somaliland’s independence.

The Gulf state, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, has cultivated deep economic and security ties with Somaliland. These include a 30-year concession at the strategic Berbera port held by the UAE company DP World.

The UAE declined to sign a joint Arab-Islamic statement condemning Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, but it released a joint statement with the African Union in January pledging “support for Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability”.

Somalia’s break with the UAE coincided with a deterioration in Saudi Arabian-Emirati relations.

Tensions erupted in December when Saudi forces bombed what Riyadh described as a UAE weapons shipment to the separatist Southern Transitional Council in Yemen. Saudi Arabia also backed a call by Yemen’s internationally recognised government for Emirati forces in the country to withdraw.

The UAE denied the allegations.

Separately, Abu Dhabi has also been accused of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, which has been battling the Sudanese Armed Forces for nearly three years.

Saudi Arabia, an ally of Khartoum, condemned the RSF on Saturday over attacks in Sudan’s Kordofan region, which have killed dozens of people, including women and children.

Riyadh also denounced “foreign interference” by unspecified parties in Sudan, saying the “continued influx of illegal weapons, mercenaries and foreign fighters” was prolonging the continuation of the nearly three-year-old war.

It did not name the parties.

Sudan, meanwhile, filed a case against the UAE at the International Court of Justice last year, accusing it of “complicity in genocide” allegedly committed by the RSF against the Masalit community in West Darfur state.

The UAE slammed the move as “nothing more than a cynical publicity stunt” and said it would seek the “immediate dismissal” of the case.

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (UPI) — South Korea will seek closer cooperation with China to stabilize supplies of rare earth minerals critical to its high-tech industries, the government said Thursday, as Seoul unveiled a strategy to strengthen supply chain security.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced a comprehensive plan calling for expanded cooperation channels with Beijing, including the establishment of a government-to-government hotline and joint consultative body to help prevent supply disruptions.

The initiative comes as South Korea, one of the world’s top high-tech exporters, remains heavily reliant on imported raw materials essential to manufacturing.

“South Korea has developed advanced industries such as semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries, but as a resource-importing country, we face many challenges in managing supply chains,” Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said during a visit to a rare earth magnet manufacturer in Daegu.

“Our national competitiveness depends on industrial resource security, and the government will focus its policy capabilities on building a resilient industrial structure that is not shaken by external changes,” he said.

Rare earth elements — a group of 17 metals used in components such as permanent magnets, electric motors and advanced electronics — are widely considered vital to next-generation manufacturing. China’s dominance of rare earth processing and refining has left global manufacturers vulnerable to export controls and geopolitical tensions.

Under the plan, South Korea will designate all 17 rare earth elements as core strategic minerals and create new customs classification codes to improve monitoring and demand forecasting.

Seoul also aims to expand domestic production and recycling capacity through regulatory reforms and subsidies for new facilities, while creating a dedicated rare earth research and development fund under an existing industrial innovation investment program.

To support overseas supply diversification, the government will increase policy loans for overseas resource development to $46.2 million this year, up from $26.6 million in 2025, while expanding the state financing coverage ratio to 70% from 50%, the ministry said.

Beyond China, South Korea said it will pursue supply partnerships with countries including Vietnam and Laos as part of efforts to diversify procurement channels and reduce reliance on any single supplier.

The announcement comes a day after South Korea was tapped to chair Washington’s Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, or FORGE, a U.S.-led framework aimed at strengthening supply chain resilience among allied economies for critical minerals and emerging technologies.