A diplomatic spat between Nairobi and Mogadishu triggered by the brief arrest of a Somali diplomat in Nairobi on April 25 continues to simmer, with the Somali government now demanding a formal apology from Kenya.

The president of Somalia has termed the arrest “unacceptable.”

The news comes days after the Somali government recalled its ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur, in protest. Mogadishu recalled Nur “for further consultations,” and sent a protest letter to Nairobi requesting an explanation over the arrest, which it termed “a serious violation of diplomatic immunity.”

“We want the Kenyan government to formally apologise to us...” Mr Nur told a Somali online news website, Sabahi, on Wednesday.

According to the envoy, Kenya’s Foreign Minister Amina Mohammed apologised for the incident during a conversation with him, but officials in Mogadishu are now demanding a formal apology.

In an interview with The EastAfrican in Nairobi, Buri Mohamed Hamza, a former Somali state minister of foreign affairs, urged Kenya to exercise restraint in its handling of Somalis living in its country.

Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed on Monday urged the Kenyan government to “approach the ongoing security operation in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of innocent Somalis in Kenya.”

The security swoop has led to the deportation of nearly 200 Somalis to Mogadishu.

Kenyan officials say efforts are under way to end the row through diplomatic channels.

“This matter is being handled at a senior level... and we feel it is not helpful to sensationalise it,” a Foreign Ministry source said.

In remarks carried in the Somali media on Tuesday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud criticised the arrest of Siyad Mohamud Shire, consular official of the Somali Embassy, called on Kenya to explain.

“We have recalled our ambassador to explain what happened and tell us the general situation of Somalis in Kenya,” the president said.

The circumstances surrounding the diplomat’s brief detention remain unclear, with Kenyan officials unwilling to explain what happened.

According to Somali sources, the consul was stopped at a police checkpoint in Hurlingham on April 25 and taken to Kilimani police station. The police officers allegedly confiscated his diplomatic ID and treated him with disrespect.

“Somalis are aghast at the detention and humiliation of their consul in Nairobi,” Abdirashid Hashi, the deputy director of the Mogadishu-based think-tank, Heritage Institutes for Policy Studies, told The EastAfrican, in a telephone conversation.

Kenya has shouldered the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees on its soil, and since 2011, when it sent troops to Somalia, suffered a string of attacks by the Somalia-based militant group Al Shabaab, whose fighters last year stormed an upscale mall in Nairobi and killed 67 people.

READ: Kenya’s security dilemma in the face of terror attacks

The two have recently had a row over how to manage the southern Somali regions, where Kenyan troops under the African Union mission in Somalia operate.

The Kenyan government has supported a local initiative to set up an interim Jubaland administration whose links to Mogadishu seem tenuous at best. The whole affair risks reopening old wounds and could turn into a full-blown diplomatic row.

At stake is Kenya’s security partnership with Somalia and its counterterrorism campaign aimed at diminishing the power of Al Shabaab.

“The interests of Kenya and Somalia, particularly security, are too interwoven. Things must not be allowed to get out of hand. Somalia is not in a position to play hardball with Kenya, while Kenya cannot also overplay its hands,” Mr Hashi said.

“Both our governments share the same security concerns, but the continued detention of innocent Somalis only serves to create an atmosphere of fear and mistrust that will divide our communities,” Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed said recently.

By Rashid Abdi and Malkhadir Muhumed