President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declined a proposal for a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali in Beijing, China, according to confirmation from two senior Somali officials.
The leaders of Djibouti and Mauritania, along with the African Union’s special envoy and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, reportedly attempted to mediate the talks, but the efforts were unsuccessful.
The Somali President and Ethiopian Prime Minister are among African leaders attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit taking place in Beijing, China.
The Federal Government of Somalia has consistently maintained that it will not engage in direct negotiations with Ethiopia unless Addis Ababa cancels the controversial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the breakaway region of Somaliland.