Kenya, Somalia to 'work towards peace' in sea border spat

Kenya and Somalia agreed Wednesday "to work towards peace" in a spat over an oil- and gas-rich region of the Indian Ocean, said the office of Ethiopia's Prime Minister, who mediated in talks between the neighbours.

Somalian President Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta met in Nairobi to try and resolve a bitter maritime border dispute, with Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed there to moderate.

This came after Kenya accused Somalia of selling oil and gas blocks at a London auction last month, despite a pending delineation case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The pair discussed the matter "extensively", Mr Ahmed's office said on Twitter.

"As an outcome, both agreed to work towards peace & to take measures in addressing particular issues that escalated the tensions," it added.

In February, Nairobi recalled its ambassador from Mogadishu for "urgent consultations" over the disputed area, believed to hold lucrative offshore oil and gas deposits in a part of Africa only recently found to be sitting on significant reserves.

Kenya said it had acted because of an "egregious decision by the government of Somalia to auction off oil and gas blocks in Kenya's maritime territorial area that borders Somalia".

It accused Somalia of an "unparallelled affront and illegal grab at the resources of Kenya".

But Somalia rejected the allegations, saying it would not "undertake any unilateral activities in the disputed area" until the ICJ had ruled on the matter.