The Manila Times

Kenya, Somalia normalize ties after dispute

POLLS

- AP

park said in a statement.

South African Police are investigat­ing the incident.

Police and electoral officials of Sri Lanka board a bus after collecting ballot papers and boxes from a distributi­on center for their respective polling stations on the eve of the presidenti­al election in the southern town of Hambantota.

NAIROBI: Kenya and Somalia have agreed to “normalize” relations and start reissuing travel visas to each other’s citizens after a long- running dispute over marine borders strained ties between the neighbors.

The agreement, announced by Kenya’s presidency late Thursday, followed a meeting in Nairobi between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Somali counterpar­t, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

The East African leaders “reaffirmed the invaluable relations that exist between Kenya and Somalia and agreed to explore avenues of strengthen­ing bilateral and diplomatic ties” between them, a statement from Kenyatta’s

Kenyatta and Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, were seen smiling and shaking hands in photograph­s posted by the Kenyan presidency on Twitter.

The statement made no mention of a territoria­l dispute between Somalia and Kenya over a stretch of the Indian Ocean claimed by both nations believed to hold valuable deposits of oil and gas.

Relations between Mogadishu and Nairobi deteriorat­ed earlier this year after Somalia decided to auction off oil and gas blocks in a disputed maritime area.

Nairobi recalled its ambassador from Mogadishu in February in the row over which of the East African neighbours controls access to the lucrative deposits — a dispute they’ve taken to the Internatio­nal Court of Justice.

The contested triangle of water, which stretches over an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers, lies in a part of Africa only recently found to be sitting on

Somalia also accused Kenya earlier this year of detaining and confiscati­ng the passports of Somali ministers trying to enter the country.

another three before turning the pistol on himself. The gunman was taken into custody in “grave” condition, police said, as officers stormed Saugus High School in Santa Clarita — the latest in a relentless cycle of classroom shootings that have left around 300 youngsters dead over two decades. The chilling scene played out even as lawmakers in Washington were debating the latest attempt at gun control legislatio­n that has stalled in Congress for months.

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AFP PHOTO

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