Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh announced that his country is not about the normalization of ties with Israel at the current stage.
Guelleh stressed that his country won't follow the footsteps of other Arab and Islamic countries that initiated the normalization of relations with Israel.
In an interview published on Wednesday by "The Africa Report", Guelleh explained that conditions are not suitable now for taking this step, indicating that Djibouti has no problem with Jews and Israelis.
He pointed out that some Israelis visit Djibouti with their passports to conduct business, while citizens of the African country have had the opportunity for 25 years to travel to Israel.
He said, however, that his country has differences with the government of Israel because it denies the inalienable rights of the Palestinians.
"All we ask of this government is to make one peace sign and we will do ten signals in return, but I fear that they will never do it," he said.
On the other hand, the Ethiopian "Capital" newspaper, citing sources, said that the Ethiopian Navy decided to base itself in Djibouti and that the headquarters of the Maritime Command would be in Bahr Dar, the regional capital of the Amhara province.
The newspaper pointed out that the Ethiopian government has identified the location of its primary military base in Djibouti, noting that there were proposals to place it in Sudan, Eritrea, or Djibouti.
The newspaper revealed that according to the sources, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, during his recent visit to Djibouti, discussed the issue of building the military base with the Guelleh.
The newspaper confirmed that France will help the Ethiopian government in rebuilding the naval force, and some navy personnel are currently training in France.
Since 2012, Addis Ababa has been implementing the huge "Grand Renaissance Dam" project on the Blue Nile, whose construction, according to experts, will lead to water shortages in Sudan and Egypt.
Follow the latest news on Google News
