Defiant Somalia puts contested oil block territory up for auction
Italian naval destroyer escorts merchant vessel delivering humanitarian assistance to Somalia. Mogadishu in 2014 filed a suit accusing Kenya of encroaching on 100,000 square km of marine territory with potential oil and gas deposits in the Indian Ocean. PHOTO | REUTERS
The diplomatic spat between Kenya and Somalia was poised to take a turn for the worse after leaked Somalia government documents showed that Mogadishu had put on auction offshore oil blocks in the contested territory off the Kenyan port of Lamu.
Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment citing sensitivity of the matter.
