Somalia's president visits Ethiopia in boost to strained relations

MOGADISHU (Reuters) -Somalia's president visited Ethiopia on Saturday, his office said, the strongest sign yet of improving relations between the two neighbours after a year of tensions over Addis Ababa's plans to build a naval base in a breakaway Somali region.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud flew to Ethiopia from Uganda where he travelled earlier on Saturday to attend a summit on African agriculture, his office said in a statement posted on the X social media platform.

While in Ethiopia, he held discussions with Ethiopian leadership "to strengthen bilateral relations and advance shared priorities", the statement said.

"This renewed cooperation underscores a new era of collaboration between Somalia and Ethiopia."

They also agreed to restore and enhance bilateral relations through full diplomatic representation in their capitals, according to the joint statement on X.

On Jan. 2, Ethiopia sent its defence minister to Mogadishu, the first bilateral visit since relations between the countries soured.

Tensions erupted in January 2024 after Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Somalia's breakaway region, Somaliland.

In the MoU, Somaliland was to lease Addis Ababa a stretch of coastline for an Ethiopian naval base and commercial port in exchange for possible recognition of Somaliland's independence.

Since then, Somalia has accused Ethiopia of undermining its territorial integrity, threatened to eject its peacekeepers, and has also strengthened relations with Ethiopia's arch foes Egypt and Eritrea.

After months of escalating rhetoric and inconclusive international mediation efforts, Somalia and Ethiopia agreed on Dec. 11, after talks in Turkey, to work together to resolve the dispute and begin technical negotiations by the end of February.

"Underscoring the serious and evolving threat posed by extremist militant groups in the region, the leaders agreed to instruct their respective security agencies to bolster cooperation in promoting peace and stability in the region.", the statement added.

In the statement, Somalia said the president's visit to Addis Ababa was a follow-up to the agreement reached in Ankara.

(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Mark Potter and David Gregorio)

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