Somalia has ordered the expulsion of a senior Ethiopian diplomat, Ali Mohamad Adan, escalating tensions between the two neighbouring nations. The decision, announced on Tuesday, gives Adan, a counsellor at the Ethiopian embassy, 72 hours to leave Somalia.
Somalia’s foreign ministry did not provide specific reasons but cited Adan’s failure to respect the laws of the host nation and abstain from involvement in its internal affairs.
This follows a series of diplomatic conflicts between Somalia and Ethiopia since Ethiopia made a deal in January to develop a port in Somaliland, a self-governing region in Somalia whose independence remains unrecognized internationally.
Earlier this year, Somalia expelled Ethiopia’s ambassador and recalled its own envoy from Addis Ababa. The Somali government also plans to exclude Ethiopian troops from a new African Union peacekeeping mission set to deploy on January 1, citing Ethiopia’s “unilateral actions” that allegedly infringe on Somali sovereignty.