The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, says he will visit neighbouring Ethiopia amid tension between the two countries.
This is the first time President Mohamud will be in Ethiopia since the Ethiopian government signed a controversial Red Sea access deal with Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland in January which angered Mogadishu.
Somalia had said the signing of the deal of the deal was a violation of its territorial integrity by Ethiopia because Somaliland is its integral part.
President Mohamud told a press conference in Kismayo on Thursday that the visit ''is important for the national interests of Somalia.''
Deal rejected
The government of Somalia plans ''to complete the liberation of the areas under the control of terrorists and the negative effects of the El Nino floods in Jubaland,'' the president added.
It is not immediately clear whether President Mohamud will hold talks with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed over the controversial deal. There have been regional efforts to resolve the tension.
In a latest twist, lawmakers in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland rejected the maritime access deal with Ethiopia.
The visit to Ethiopia by Somalia's leader also comes as African leaders gather in Addis Ababa for the annual summit of the African Union which is due to take place over the weekend.
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