The Saudi kingdom is also drafting an agreement to expand a previous defense agreement with Pakistan to include Turkiye
News Desk - The Cradle
“Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will travel to Saudi Arabia soon to finalize the deal, which aims to foster more strategic collaboration on Red Sea security as well as deeper military cooperation,” the sources are quoted as saying.
A spokesperson for the Somali government confirmed that the deal was in progress but gave no further details.
The Saudi and Egyptian governments did not respond to requests for comment.
Friday's report comes as Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan are close to finalizing a trilateral defense agreement, following nearly one year of negotiations.
The draft defense deal builds on expanding Saudi–Pakistani military cooperation, including a mutual defense pact signed in September that treats an attack on one as an attack on both.
Officials say the agreement remains a work in progress for the time being, with negotiations continuing behind closed doors.
“All regional countries must come together to create a cooperation platform on the issue of security,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday.
Mogadishu has also been engaged in recent talks with Turkiye, which is planning its first deepwater exploration project abroad in Somalia.
Friday's report by Bloomberg comes days after Somalia cancelled all its agreements with the UAE.
The move followed Abu Dhabi’s extraction of its Yemeni proxy leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, via Somalia’s territory, including the breakaway state of Somaliland, which was recently recognized by Israel.
Zubaidi, head of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen, reportedly arrived in the UAE on a flight from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after first traveling to Somaliland by boat.
“Using Somalia’s airspace, Somalia’s airfields to smuggle a fugitive is not something that Somalia condones,” Ali Omar, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera.
He added that this was “the last straw” that prompted the severing of ties with Abu Dhabi.
The Somali government's decision will annul deals with the UAE on port operations, security cooperation, and defense.
Over recent weeks, a rift has been growing between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, particularly over Yemen, where the STC recently seized large swathes of the country’s south with the aim of establishing a secessionist state.
Saudi-backed forces recaptured most key cities and areas, yet tensions remain high.
As a result, Abu Dhabi has withdrawn from the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen and has declared an “end” to its mission in the country, whose islands and waterways it still continues to occupy.
The new regional defense pact follows Israel’s December decision to recognize Somaliland, making it the first country to do so. Somalia criticized and most UN Security Council members, including Turkiye, condemned the move.
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