ANADOLU — The lower house of Somalia’s parliament voted Monday to ban a United Arab Emirates’ state-owned ports operator from the African country, declaring it a threat to Somalia’s sovereignty, independence, and unity.

A crushing majority of 168 lawmakers in the 170-seat parliament rejected all agreements signed with DP World to operate the ports of Berbera and Bosaso.

Earlier in March, DP World signed a deal with Ethiopia and Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland for the operating rights to Berbera.

According to the Dubai-based firm, the deal would give the Ethiopian government a 19 percent stake in the port of Berbera while DP World would retain a 51 percent stake and Somaliland would get 30 percent.

In April 2017, DP World signed a deal with the semi-autonomous northeastern region of Puntland to develop and operate the port of Bosaso.

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) on Saturday signed a deal with the Somali parliament to go ahead with the construction of a modern National Assembly building in capital Mogadishu.

Prof. Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari, speaker of the parliament, who spoke to the media after the signing ceremony said TIKA will first build a temporary facility within the next five months where assembly sessions will be held.

In the next phase, it will rebuild the current National Assembly into a seven-storey modern structure.

“Special thanks goes to the our brothers in the Turkish government for the facilitation and funding of this project that is expected to commence as soon as possible,” he said.

The parliament building has suffered damage because of civil war in the eastern African country.

Also present at the ceremony were Olgan Bekar, Turkey’s ambassador to Somalia, and Galip Yilmaz, TIKA’s Mogadishu program coordinator.

Bekar said building the parliament is one of the most prominent projects that TIKA will realize this year.

The new assembly building will comprise of an assembly hall for the sessions, and 329 offices for each of the members in the lower and upper houses.

NAIROBI, March 11 (Xinhua) — The international community should rally behind efforts to revitalize the war against Al-Shabaab militants in order to hasten Somalia’s reconstruction, a senior AU official has said.

Francisco Madeira, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, told Xinhua Friday that a mixture of diplomatic, military and economic tools is required to boost the war against terrorism in the Horn of African state.

“Liberating Somalia from the crippling influence of Al-Shabaab and violence is the first step to stabilize the country,” Madeira said during an interview in Nairobi.

The veteran Mozambican diplomat who is also the head of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) noted that military assault against Al-Shabaab fighters has paid dividends but warned the Al-Qaida-linked terror network remained a huge threat to peace and stability in the greater Horn of Africa region.

“It is the responsibility of Somalia government and armed forces, neighbors and other partners far afield to root out terrorism and insecurity,” said Madeira.

The AU envoy noted that targeted airstrikes and enhanced intelligence gathering has dealt a huge blow to Al-Shabaab as evidenced by deaths and defections of senior commanders.

At the same time, Madeira said enhanced collaboration between African Union troops and Somali armed forces has dislodged Al-Shabaab in key strongholds.

“Our anti-terrorism strategies are yielding results and there has been destabilization within Al-Shabaab. The day this armed group denounced violence, it will create a conducive environment to work for peace in Somalia,” Madeira told Xinhua.

He stressed that enhanced coordination coupled with empowering Somalia’s disciplined forces is key to salvaging the country from the grip of terror and civil strife ahead of exit of AU troops that is expected to end next year.

He said military interventions to root out terrorism in Somalia have ushered in some levels of stability in the country hence attracting foreign direct investments.

Madeira noted that the AU troops in collaboration with Somalia National Army have managed to bring stability in regions that were terrorism havens.

“We will continue to fight alongside Somalia troops to eradicate terrorism in the country,” said Madeira.

He added that the African Union is also keen on strengthening cooperation with China to help address Somalia’s endemic challenges like terrorism, civil strife and natural calamities.