Somalia has categorically rejected the possibility of mediation in its ongoing dispute with Ethiopia unless Addis Ababa retracts a contentious agreement with the breakaway region of Somaliland.
The diplomatic tensions heightened when landlocked Ethiopia entered into a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on January 1, granting it access to the sea.
“There is no space for mediation unless Ethiopia retracts its illegal MOU and reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement posted on its official social media accounts.
The comment comes after the African Union’s conflict resolution body on Wednesday discussed the crisis and called on the two countries “to exercise restraint, de-escalate and engage in meaningful dialogue towards finding a peaceful resolution of the matter”.
Simultaneously, the East Africa grouping IGAD is convening an extraordinary summit in Uganda on Thursday to address the Ethiopia-Somalia feud, along with the conflict in Sudan.
Somalia contends that the pact has violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity, seeking international support. The agreement, signed on January 1, involves Somaliland leasing 20 kilometers (12 miles) of its coast to Ethiopia for a period of 50 years, allowing Ethiopia to establish a naval base and commercial port on the coast.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate facing the Gulf of Aden, declared independence from Somalia in 1991, a move that remains unrecognized by the international community.
