Somalia pledges to accept court ruling on Kenya maritime dispute
Somalia committed
to comply with any United Nations International Court of Justice ruling on its
maritime border dispute with Kenya, and to accept the boundary that is
delimited by the tribunal.
“As a matter of
international law, the court’s judgment will be binding on Kenya,” Somalian
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo said in a speech to the UN General
Assembly. “We trust that, when that judgment is issued and the boundary is
established, a lasting settlement of this longstanding dispute will finally be
achieved.”
The neighbors
claim ownership of a 150,000 square kilometer (58,000 square mile) area off
their Indian Ocean coastline, that’s said to be rich in oil, gas and tuna fish.
In 2014, Somalia went to court to challenge a 2009 agreement that set its
maritime border along latitudinal lines extending 450 nautical miles into the
sea.
On Sept. 3, the UN
Security Council concluded that the African Union isn’t empowered to intervene
in the lawsuit before the court, Farmajo said in his speech. The AU said this
month its Peace and Security Council planned to appoint a mediator to help find
“an amicable and sustainable settlement, in consultation and collaboration with
the relevant regional mechanisms.”
Following talks
convened by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, who is also the current
chairman of the African Union, Farmajo and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta
agreed to restore “our good brotherly relationship, strengthening the
diplomatic and political cooperation,” the Somalian leader said.
The ICJ is expected to start hearing the case in November.
Source: Bloomberg.
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