China negotiating Horn of Africa military base

[Itrah]

China is negotiating a military base in the strategic port of Djibouti, raising the prospect of US and Chinese bases side-by-side in the tiny Horn of Africa nation.

"Discussions are ongoing," President Ismail Omar Guelleh told AFP in an interview with AFP in Djibouti, saying Beijing's presence would be "welcome".

Djibouti is already home to Camp Lemonnier, the US military headquarters on the continent, used for covert, anti-terror and other operations in Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere across Africa.

France and Japan also have bases in the port, a former French colony that guards the entrance to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and which has been used by European and other international navies as a base in the fight against piracy from neighbouring Somalia.

China is already financing several major infrastructure projects estimated to total more than $9 billion (8 billion euros), including improved ports, airports and railway lines to landlocked Ethiopia, for whom Djibouti is a lifeline port.

"France's presence is old, and the Americans found that the position of Djibouti could help in the fight against terrorism in the region," Guelleh said.

"The Japanese want to protect themselves from piracy - and now the Chinese also want to protect their interests, and they are welcome," he said.

Djibouti overseas the narrow Bab al-Mandeb straits, the channel separating Africa from Arabia and one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, leading into the Red Sea and northwards to the Mediterranean.

Djibouti and Beijing signed a military agreement allowing the Chinese navy to use Djibouti port in February 2014, a move that angered Washington.

China aims to install a permanent military base in Obock, Djibouti's northern port city.

In recent years, Guelleh has increasingly turned to China as a key economic partner. Last year he switched the port operating contract to a Chinese company, after the previous Dubai-based operator was accused of corruption.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/20 ... 13175.html

Useless Djibouti became a little more important.

[EvolSyawla]

I wonder if this will seriously affect camp lemmonier.

And I wonder how this will change Djibouti. I am planning to travel a lot more to DJI city after the summer. Hmmmm

[BlackVelvet]

What does Djibouti get from having so many foreign military bases in their country

[Itrah]

What does Djibouti get from having so many foreign military bases in their country

Protection from Ethiopia. Without all those bases, Ethiopia would have annexed pathetic Djibouti a long time ago.

[gedo_gurl]

Jabuuti has the nicest Somalis both there and abroad. I think having such a large country to share was the worst thing we ever did. We should have had states like the Gulf Arabs and we would never have been in this mess.

[BlackVelvet]

What does Djibouti get from having so many foreign military bases in their country

Protection from Ethiopia. Without all those bases, Ethiopia would have annexed pathetic Djibouti a long time ago.

It will be interesting to see how the political climate shifts once Somalia becomes a stronger nation

Jabuuti has the nicest Somalis both there and abroad. I think having such a large country to share was the worst thing we ever did. We should have had states like the Gulf Arabs and we would never have been in this mess.

I don't think Somalis back then were as qabiilist as they are today. They fought and died for Somalinimo not for their qabiil. The leaders in SYL were from qabiils that today aren't even allowed an equal footing to the country their forefathers stood up for

It's not the Somalis in the past that got it wrong, it's the Somalis of today that have their heads shoved too far up their arses

[EvolSyawla]

^

I think people fall back on the security that came from qabiil during the conflicts, so its hard to shed that sense forged sense of family (and animosity).

[djibsomali]

you don't even know somaliland/somalia politics and you are trying Djibouti?
Djibouti is not what you guys think!

you are not even welcome!
You have heard here first !

[Buraanbur]

Jabuuti has the nicest Somalis both there and abroad. I think having such a large country to share was the worst thing we ever did. We should have had states like the Gulf Arabs and we would never have been in this mess.

I absolutely agree. Insha'Allah that's the future for Somalia.

[Lancer]

They should use this as a leverage against US and request an increase in their annual lease.

[gedo_gurl]

What does Djibouti get from having so many foreign military bases in their country

Protection from Ethiopia. Without all those bases, Ethiopia would have annexed pathetic Djibouti a long time ago.

It will be interesting to see how the political climate shifts once Somalia becomes a stronger nation

Jabuuti has the nicest Somalis both there and abroad. I think having such a large country to share was the worst thing we ever did. We should have had states like the Gulf Arabs and we would never have been in this mess.

I don't think Somalis back then were as qabiilist as they are today. They fought and died for Somalinimo not for their qabiil. The leaders in SYL were from qabiils that today aren't even allowed an equal footing to the country their forefathers stood up for

It's not the Somalis in the past that got it wrong, it's the Somalis of today that have their heads shoved too far up their arses

Somalinimo died in 1989.

Even in England things turned sour from year 2000 onwards when I saw ten year olds ask me qabiil because their parents wanted to know.

Buraanbur,

They are the only real Somalis with dhaqan and edeb left. I think the rest of Somalia can catch up caqli dhaqan wise if they separate and make reasonable trade agreements.

[BlackVelvet]

Somalinimo died in 1989.

Was that before or after citizens in Hargeysa were bombed by their government, before or after women were ordered to be raped by government soldiers or before or after qabiil became the ticket to your meal to stolen wealth and lands


For each group of people their belief in Somalinimo was eroded when they were stranded and for each group that's a different date


But Somalinimo is not dead no matter how much hateful and bitter people try to slaughter it. Somalinimo is not a thing that can die for as long as Somali people exist

[Xildiiid]

Jabuuti has the nicest Somalis both there and abroad. I think having such a large country to share was the worst thing we ever did. We should have had states like the Gulf Arabs and we would never have been in this mess.

The first president of Djibouti was from Seylac, Somaliland. He saw how his country of birth ended up after merging with Somalia in the Somali republic. It's one of the reasons why he opposed the proposition of the Kacaan regime in 1977, who had already planned to annex Djibouti and install a governor from Somalia.

[gedo_gurl]

I forgot that Hargeisa bombing was 88. Thats when it ended and Somalinimo will never recover from the events of that day and beyond. We share Islam only.

Xildiid under different circumstances (if Somali from every clan in Somalia were not xayawaan) a union would have been a blessing from God.

[BigBreak]

imagine if mohammed harbi had gotten the better of hassan aptidon/the french and brought djibouti into the union with somaliland and somalia, they too would have fared worse than it actually did. somaliland paid the price in 1960 and djibouti has been flying high since 1977