Somalia expels Ethiopian ambassador amid brewing tension

Tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia boiled over as Somalia made an aggressive play against its fellow East African member. On Thursday Somalia drove out the Ethiopian ambassador to Mogadishu. This is following suspicion of Ethiopian interference in the domestic affairs of Somalia.

Shortly after a cabinet meeting presided over by Somali Prime Minister Hamza Barre, Ambassador Muktar Mohamed Ware was expelled, as reported by the East African.

Furthermore, the Ethiopian consular offices had closed in Garowe, Puntland, and Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway province of Somaliland.

The decision to expel the ambassador suggests that Ethiopia's interference in Somalia's internal affairs has become a major cause for concern.

The decision was reached just a day after Puntland, a semi-autonomous state that had declared it would rule itself and withdrew from the Somalia's federal structure, signed a new cooperation deal with Addis Ababa.

"Puntland on Sunday rejected constitutional amendments on four chapters of the Constitution despite the federal parliament approving them a day earlier," the East African report reads.

The friction between Ethiopia and Somalia over Somaliland has been brewing for some time now. At the beginning of the year, the landlocked country of Ethiopia touted its new plan to gain direct access to the sea.

The plan entailed signing a deal with Somaliland, a region Somalia considers a breakaway state. In response Somalia officially declared the sea access partnership between Somaliland and Ethiopia unlawful.

The president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud passed a bill that "nullifies" the port deal, with Somalia even going as far as saying it would stop at nothing to protect its territorial integrity. Somalia considers Somaliland a part of its territory, while Somaliland considers itself a sovereign state.