Somalia orders Ethiopia’s ambassador to leave the country as diplomatic tensions rise

By OMAR FARUK
Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia has ordered Ethiopia’s ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours, and the closing of Ethiopia’s consulates in the breakaway region of Somaliland and the semiautonomous region of Puntland. Diplomats and personnel stationed at the consulates must vacate Somalia within a week, according to a Cabinet resolution. Somalia’s Foreign Ministry, in addition to expelling the Ethiopian ambassador, recalled its own ambassador to Ethiopia for consultations Thursday. The Cabinet resolution cited Ethiopia’s interference in Somalia’s internal affairs as the reason for the decisions. Ethiopia did not immediately respond to the vacation order but officials from the embassy in the capital Mogadishu confirmed that the communication had been received.