WASHINGTON — Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi said Wednesday that his country is prepared to contribute to the International Stabilization Force tasked with helping secure the postwar Gaza Strip on behalf of the US-controlled Board of Peace.

“We haven’t been approached about this, but if we are asked, we can provide,” Abdullahi told The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the MEAD conference in Washington.

The US may be holding off on issuing such a request because doing so may be seen as a nod of legitimacy to Somaliland, whose 1991 breakaway from Somalia is opposed by key Gaza mediating countries Egypt, Turkey and Qatar.

The Board of Peace is trying to build a 20,000-strong ISF to help secure Gaza’s borders, assist in Hamas’s disarmament and facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Uganda has committed around 1,200 personnel, and Morocco has committed up to 500. Kosovo, Kazakhstan, and Albania, in total, have committed around 80. The Board of Peace is also in talks with Burundi about contributing another 500.

Abdullahi — who was slated to hold meetings at the State Department and with members of Congress in the coming days — said his country could contribute as many as 2,000 soldiers to the ISF.

While US........

© The Times of Israel