Two Arab diplomatic sources have disclosed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) proposed to the United States the utilization of the Republic of Somaliland to address the Ansar Allah (Houthi) campaign in the Red Sea, as an alternative to deploying costly American aircraft carriers requiring substantial budgets and personnel.
As per reports from Sheba Intelligence, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Advisor and chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service, held discussions with Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, and other American officials in Washington during bin Zayed’s visit in early June.
Sources familiar with bin Zayed’s visit stated that discussions covered various regional matters such as Houthi activities in the Red Sea, air and missile defense operations, and maritime security in the Arabian Gulf.
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During talks on Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ reluctance to host American and Western military bases for operations against the Houthis, the Emirati proposal suggested potential American use of Somaliland.
The Houthi group in Yemen, in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid Israeli attacks resulting in over 37,000 casualties since October last year, has been targeting shipping routes in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.
In a bid to bolster their influence in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea and collaborate with the US to safeguard the Red Sea against Houthi assaults and Somali piracy, American officials have initiated communication with Somaliland under Abu Dhabi’s supervision, assert the sources.
Such moves would anger the failed government in Mogadishu and other regional nations, including Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed also addressed matters concerning the UAE’s prerequisites for engaging in a security coalition post-Gaza conflict, alongside addressing lingering American apprehensions regarding the ties between Group 42 Holding Ltd. and Chinese technology.
