President Farmajo will arrive in Asmara later today

ASMARA (Halbeeg News) – Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is expected to arrive in Asmara later today, officials confirmed Wednesday.

President Farmajo will fly out of China where he attended 7th summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Beijing on September 3 and 4.

Eritrean Information Minister, Yamane G. Meskel confirmed the visit of President Farmajo saying the President will meet with the host President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

“The President of the Republic of Somalia H.E. Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo will arrive in Asmara later today for a tripartite Summit with President Isaias Afwerki and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed,” Mr. Meskel said in a Twitter post.

Sources privy to the development told Halbeeg News that President Farmajo will hold talks with President Isaias Afwerki on Djibouti-Eritrea dispute.

The President will try convinced the leaders of Djibouti and Eritrea to resolve their difference at the negotiating table.

Last month, the government expressed its desire to play a mediation role to the governments of Djibouti and Eritrea.

A border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea resulted in armed clashes in June 2008, leaving several people dead from both sides.

The dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea is perennial, starting from the colonial days when the former was under French administration while the latter under the Italians.

They have argued over ownership of the area called Ras Doumeira since the 1900s.

The UN Security Council responded by imposing sanctions an arms embargo on Eritrea over claims Asmara was financing trouble-makers in the Horn.

In 2010, Qatar agreed to mediate the conflict and offered to provide troops as a buffer between the two sides.

Both sides seemed amenable to the offer and it somehow quietened the trouble.

That was until last year in June when Doha withdrew the troops, in the wake of a blockade imposed on Qatar by its Middle East neighbours.