In a recent announcement, Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi revealed plans to relocate the Ethiopian embassy from its current location within the presidential palace grounds back to its original site, which now stands unoccupied. The decision responds to public concerns about the embassy’s placement within such a politically sensitive area.
“The Ethiopian embassy should not remain within the presidential palace; it must return to its designated site, which is vacant and awaiting reoccupation,” Minister Fiqi emphasized during an interview with national television.
He acknowledged that the Somali people’s concerns are valid and assured that authorities are taking swift steps to complete the relocation. “Our citizens’ concerns are valid. We will expedite the embassy’s move to ensure it operates from a more suitable location outside the palace in the near future,” he added.
Fiqi’s statements reflect a longstanding issue, which he linked to events in 2006. He noted that the Ethiopian embassy’s current positioning traces back to Ethiopia’s intervention in Somalia that year, following authorization by former President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed’s administration when Ethiopian troops entered Mogadishu.
