Somalia rejects US decision on Golan Heights

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Federal Government of Somalia has rejected a US decision to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, warning the move would hurt the peace process and affect regional stability, Garowe Online reports.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the country's foreign ministry criticized the move by US President Donald Trump to recognize Israel's 1981 annexation and said Golan Heights is a Syrian land illegally occupied by Israel.

It described Trump's declaration as a clear violation of the United Nations [UN] Charter and of international law and resolutions.

"It will have significant negative effects on the peace process in the Middle East and the security and stability of the region and it also violates the international law and norms," read the statement in part.

This came two days after the foreign ministry ordered the country's permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, Fadumo Abdullahi Mohamud to urgently return to Mogadishu.

She was summoned for mysteriously abstaining from United Nations Human Rights Council vote condemning the Israeli occupation of Golan Heights

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally.

On Monday, US president Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

The UN said the Golan’s legal status would remain unchanged despite Trump’s announcement and would still be considered an “occupied territory” under international law.

GAROWE ONLINE