A meeting between the Kenyan and Somali foreign ministers on Wednesday in Nairobi is paving the way to normalizing the botched relations between the two neighbors, sources said Thursday.

A leading Kenyan media sees the move as an attempt by Nairobi to soothe Mogadishu over an alternative means to resolve the dispute that erupted last month over allegations by Kenya that Somalia was undermining its maritime authority.

The latest meeting on Wednesday follows a series of others held at the UN since a maritime conflict erupted between the two neighbors slightly over a month ago.

The case is presently before the International Court of Justice.

Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma Wednesday said Kenya’s Ambassador to Somalia Lucas Tumbo and his Somali counterpart to Nairobi Mohamoud Ahmed Nur will be returning to their work stations although she did not give timelines, sources said.

“We reaffirmed our strong desire to normalize relations and agreed, as a first step, to have our ambassadors return to station,” Dr. Juma wrote on her Twitter page after the meeting with Mr. Awad in Nairobi.

The Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya said the incident had seen Nairobi turning screws on the security front, pulling its troops from the interior of Somalia, where they are part of a regional force -Amisom.

It can be recalled that before the latest incident, Somalia has sued Kenya in 2014 at the International Court of Justice, seeking to claim an area about 100km2 in the Indian Ocean by redrawing the boundary as an extension of the land border.

And despite Kenya’s contest that an alternative means to resolve the dispute existed, the ICJ ruled it had jurisdiction and will be hearing the case from September this year.

Kenya has issued three conditions for a diplomatic resolution to the maritime dispute with neighbouring Somalia.

Nairobi wants Mogadishu to immediately withdraw a map, which was displayed at an economic forum in the United Kingdom, claiming part of Kenya’s territory.

Kenya has also demanded that Somali authorities inform those who bought oil and gas blocks at the London auction that the Horn of Africa nation doesn’t own the area.

Thirdly, Kenya wants a maritime discussion between the two nations to arrive at an amicable solution outside the international court.

Source: African Daily Voice

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