The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for the Government of National Unity expressed, on Sunday, its condemnation in the strongest terms of Somaliland for opening an embassy in occupied Jerusalem, affirming Libya’s full support for Somalia’s unity and sovereignty.

In a statement, the ministry described this move as “a flagrant violation of the provisions of international law and relevant international resolutions, as well as an unacceptable measure aimed at undermining the legal and historical status of the city of Jerusalem,” expressing its “complete rejection of any unilateral measures aimed at entrenching an illegal reality in Jerusalem, or granting any form of legitimacy to entities or arrangements that contravene the rules of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.”

Libya Rejects Any Attempt to Undermine Somalia’s Unity

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation affirmed that East Jerusalem has been occupied Palestinian territory since 1967, and that its legal status “cannot be altered through unilateral measures or illegitimate decisions,” reaffirming Libya’s full support for the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia, and its rejection of any steps that would undermine its national unity or destabilize it.

In the same context, the foreign ministers of 19 Arab and Islamic countries condemned on Sunday the illegal and unacceptable move by Somaliland to open a so-called embassy in the occupied city of Jerusalem, describing this measure as “a flagrant violation of international law and a direct infringement upon the legal and historical status of the occupied city of Jerusalem.”

On May 19, the ambassador of the separatist Somaliland region, Mohamed Hagi, said the region would soon open an embassy in Jerusalem, after the Israeli occupation became the first to officially recognize the unilaterally declared republic, expecting Israel to open an embassy in Hargeisa, the capital of the Somaliland region, according to “Reuters.”

The Occupation’s Recognition of Somaliland

The Israeli occupation recognized Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state last December, a move that Somalia rejected and described as a deliberate attack on its sovereignty.