Relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa appear strained since Ethiopia signed a Red Sea port deal with renegade enclave Somaliland.
The government of Somalia on Friday announced the expulsion of the Ethiopian ambassador to Mogadishu who was given 72 hours to leave the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia in a statement said, “in light of recent developments and in adherence to the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, announces the initiation of several diplomatic measures.”
Accordingly, it said that Muktar Mohamed Ware, Ethiopia’s main envoy to Somalia has been informed about the decision.
He was appointed to the role in March 2023.
Somalia has also recalled its ambassador to landlocked Ethiopia which it accuses of violating its sovereignty after a deal in January with Somaliland which gives it access to the Red Sea port in exchange for possible recognition as a sovereign state in the future.
The government in Mogadishu has also ordered the closure of the Ethiopian consulates in Hargeisa the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland and Garowe in Puntland.
It is to be implemented within seven days.
Somaliland has been a de facto state for over thirty years and has been rejecting what it called Somalia’s intervention in its internal affairs.
Somalia regards Somaliland as a renegade province which has no recognition from the international community as an independent country.
Mogadishu frowns on any country showing signs of dealing with Somaliland as a country, regarding it as an ”attack on Somali territorial sovereignty”.
Somalia’s latest reaction came a day after a high-level Puntland delegation – under the leadership of Finance Minister Mohammed Farah Mohammed – arrived in Ethiopia and held what it called “bilateral” talks to strengthen relations and cooperation in a range of areas.
Last Saturday, Puntland announced it will no longer give recognition to the federal government of Somalia following a constitutional amendment that is said to have given more powers to the incumbent president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Somalia said it took the action in response to “Ethiopia’s intervention” in its internal affairs.
“These measures were taken in the interest of safeguarding the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia,” said the statement from the Foreign Affairs minstry of Somalia.
Tension between Ethiopia and Somalia developed after the former signed a Memorandum of Understanding on January 1, 2024 with Somaliland to cooperate on a range of spheres.
The agreement was to be completed within one month after the MoU was signed.
According to the agreement, Ethiopia was to gain access to a 20-kilometer stretch of coastal land on a fifty years lease term in return for a recognition of Somaliland statehood and unspecified percentage share in Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s biggest national carrier.
The Ethiopian government has not reacted to Somalia’s expulsion of its diplomat or the closue of its consulates in Hargeisa and Garowe.
Somaliland and Puntland have not commented.
Ethiopia has tens of thousands of peacekeeping forces in Somalia.
MG/as/APA