By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Arising from their frosty diplomatic relations, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, on Thursday arrived in Mogadishu to meet with Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a source in Mogadishu said.
Ethiopia had, in January last year, reached a deal with Somaliland, a territory Somalia claims as its own. The deal, which allows Ethiopia access to construct a port, angered Somalia, causing their relations to sour.
Somalia accused Ethiopia of undermining its territorial integrity and threatened to eject its peacekeepers, who are in the country fighting insurgencies.
Somalia also went ahead to strengthen ties with Egypt and Eritrea, considered Ethiopia’s arch-enemy.
Local authorities and media reports say Mogadishu airport was hit by at least one mortar shell shortly before Abiy’s plane landed on Thursday, despite all roads around the high-security complex being closed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had, in December, met with the two African leaders in Ankara, where they agreed to resolve their dispute.
They also pledged to find commercial arrangements to allow landlocked Ethiopia “reliable, secure, and sustainable access to and from the sea.”
“The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation for mutual benefit,” the governments said in a joint statement after Abiy and Mohamud met.
Earlier on Thursday, the two men smiled as they shook hands on the airport tarmac, surrounded by people waving flags of the two neighbouring countries, according to photographs shared by the presidency.
Mohamud had visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, last month.
