Ethiopia has reportedly sent diplomats to Kenya and Somalia to convince the two countries to resolve their maritime border dispute without affecting fragile diplomatic ties in the Horn of Africa, reported Daily Nation.
Officials in Nairobi and Mogadishu said Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, had scheduled a meeting between Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Mohammed Farmajo for Saturday, July 13. However, the two heads of State are yet to confirm their availability for the meeting with the officials leaving it at “their diaries allowing.”
The information came amid intense speculation on Tuesday that Somalia is now willing to go for an out-of-court settlement, the option it refused previously by taking the matter to the International Court of Justice in 2014. The matter is set for hearing in the international court on September 9 this year.
However, President Farmajo’s office said the government is not ready to change its stand on the ongoing case.
“We unequivocally deny a change of the position of the Federal Government of Somalia on the ongoing case at ICJ,” the president’s office said.
“The office of the Attorney General will investigate the sources of this propaganda and the fake news it embodies,” Abdinur Mohamed Ahmed, the Somalia presidency’s director of communications, said of the fake media reports.
However, some senior Somali government officials said Dr. Abiy has been working to resolve the maritime border dispute amid pressure from key international players like the United States and the United Kingdom for a peaceful solution. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and its partners fear the maritime dispute could undermine cooperation in the fight against terrorism and sea piracy in the Horn of Africa.
The Ethiopian President Abiy’s previous attempt to solve the dispute earlier this year failed after Mogadishu stuck to resolving the dispute in court.
