Border row: Somalia hits out at Kenya

Somalia has further stirred the waters of its relations with Kenya after pushing through a political statement from the Arab League, condemning Nairobi for alleged grabbing of Mogadishu’s sea territory.
Yesterday, the Arab Parliament to which Somalia has members, issued an unusual statement which claimed Kenya was drawing up an illegal map that includes taking away somali territory.
The statement, which was incidentally publicised by the Somali Foreign ministry, claimed Somali waters were Arab waters, citing a blanket mass of waters occupied by the 22 member states under the Arab League.
“The Arab Parliament calls on Kenya to stop its hands on Somali territorial waters, which are an integral part of the Arab waters, and rejects its false pretensions to draw up a new, unfounded map while rejecting its threats to interfere in Somalia’s internal affairs,” Somalia said, translating the communique issued by the Parliament.
Though a loose body whose members are picked from the Arab League states, the Arab Parliament was affectively taking sides in a dispute already before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This week, however, Somalia’s officials pushed the idea through the Arab Parliament, on the same week the League held meetings on unifying its strategy on reaponding to what it called a threat on territorial integrity of members.
Held in Cairo on Monday, it said it reflected the Parliament’s seriousness in addressing “interference by neighbouring countries.”
Somalia did not immediately publish the alleged maps but it is Nairobi which early this year released maps that Somalia had been using to take its oil stock, showing some of the blocks lay in the disputed area.
But Mogadishu, which previously chose to play calm, may be engaging political gear to neutralise Kenya’s bid on the matter.
But by claiming “Arab Waters” in an area already disputed in court, it could signal political battle outside the ICJ.
On Thursday, the Kenyan Foreign Ministry remained mum on the issue with some officials indicating there won’t be a response.

Dispute

In August 2014, Somalia sued Kenya at the International Court of Justice seeking to redraw the boundary that currently runs eastwards from the land border. The dispute affects about 100,000km2 of sea said to contain huge deposits of hydrocarbons. Somalia previously insisted that only the ICJ should resolve the matter, rebuking Kenya’s bid to have the matter resolved out of court.