World News

Somalia's prime minister on Friday accused Ethiopia of actions that "flagrantly violate" Somalia's territorial integrity after Addis Ababa's shock announcement it would lease a stretch of coastline from the breakaway region Somaliland.

The region has been on alert since January when Ethiopia said it intended to build a naval base and commercial port on the area.

Landlocked Ethiopia has long sought its own sea access, but the move enraged Somalia which refuses to recognize Somaliland's claim to independence that it first declared in 1991 and has received little international support.

"Somalia currently faces a serious threat from Ethiopia's recent actions which flagrantly violate our territorial integrity," Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said at the UN General Assembly.

"Ethiopia's attempt to annex part of Somalia under the guise of securing sea access is both unlawful and unnecessary," he said.

Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassierejected the Somali prime minister's criticism.

"Similar agreements have been concluded by other states, and there is no reason for the government of Somalia to incite hostility that obviously intends to cover internal political tensions," he told the General Assembly.

In response to Ethiopia's plan, Somalia has threatened to boot out Ethiopian troops deployed for an African Union mission against Al-Shabaab militants since 2007.

Mogadishu has also signed a military deal with Cairo which has seen Somalia receive weapons shipments, alarming the Ethiopians who say the arms may fall into Al-Shabaab hands.

The African Union mission is due for a makeover at the end of the year and Egypt has offered to take the place of the Ethiopian troops for the first time.

Somalia may also force Ethiopia to remove the estimated 10,000 troops it has stationed along their shared border to prevent incursions by the Islamists.

gw/bjt