African Union urges Somalia, Ethiopia to swiftly implement agreement

ADDIS ABABA – The African Union on Thursday urged Ethiopia and Somalia to implement “without delay” an agreement aimed at ending tensions between the neighbours over Ethiopia’s access to the sea, calling the deal an “important act”.The two countries have been at loggerheads since landlocked Ethiopia struck a deal in January with Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base.In return, Somaliland — which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 in a move not recognised by Mogadishu — said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition,…