NAIROBI (Halbeeg News) – Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have arrived in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.
Both leaders have received official invitations from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta barely after two weeks since Kenya and Somalia were engulfed in a diplomatic row over a maritime boundary.
According to sources, the three leaders will hold tripartite talks on recent diplomatic fallout between the two East African nations over disputed maritime zones.
The sources stated that the sides will discuss the restoration of the diplomatic relations between Somalia and Kenya.
Mid last Month, the Kenyan government summoned its ambassador to Somalia and ordered Somalia’s envoy in Nairobi to leave creating uncertainty on the future relations of both countries.
Kenya accused its neighbour of auctioning off oil and gas blocks in Kenya’s maritime territorial area that borders Somalia on February 7 during Somalia oil and gas conference in London.
Somalia subsequently moved to calm diplomatic tensions by informing Kenya that she (Somalia) had merely presented maps and seismic survey.
On day Kenya cut its diplomatic ties with Somalia, a reliable source told Halbeeg News that Kenya was pushing for an agenda to force Somalia to drop the maritime case at International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Shading crocodile tears
Somalia and Kenya are at loggerheads over the maritime territorial boundary that covers an estimated 100,000 square kilometres of Indian Ocean.
The area purportedly holds vast deposits of oil and gas.
Following weeklong trade accusations between the countries, Kenya decided to calm the tension.
The East African nation realised that its foreign ministry overreacted without mulling consequence.
Kenya denied that it cut off its diplomatic ties with Somalia but instead sought more explanation from the government on London conference.
The Kenyan foreign minister, Monica Juma, had held a surprise meeting with officials from the United Nations.
Kenya pleaded the United Nations to intervene in the escalating raw.
The East African nation also immediately launched diplomatic lobby towards the countries in the region to asked them to exert pressure on Somalia to accept out of court settlement over maritime delimitation case.
This past week, President Uhuru Kenyatta travelled to Ethiopia and Eritrea to talk with the head of states of both countries.
Reliable sources told Halbeeg News that Uhuru met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to convince Somalia to drop the case at the ICJ.
The two leaders reportedly asked Uhuru to let the ICJ decide the fate of potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves off the East African coast and restore his diplomatic ties with Somalia.
Somalia, which lies to the north of Kenya, wants the maritime border to continue along the line of the land border, to the southeast.
Kenya, however, wants the sea border to go in a straight line east, giving it more sea territory.
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