The Somali Government on Wednesday defended a controversial maritime boundary agreement signed with the Kenyan Government this week.
The two governments on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding on their maritime boundary but some in Somalia suggested that the agreement cedes Somali maritime territory to Kenya.
"All the talk about the government ceding land to Kenya is false and baseless. We will never cede a span of our land to any other country," Somali Prime Minister Abdurshid Ali Sharmerke told reporters in Mogadishu.
The agreement will facilitate the presentation of Kenya's submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf by May as required under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The Somali Prime Minister said the agreement was necessary for the preparation of Somalia's claim for the extension of Somalia continental shelf as the cooperation between neighbours is a pre-requite for the submission of the war-torn country's claim.
According to the provisions of UNCLOS, coastal states intending to delineate the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles are required to submit particulars of such limits with supporting scientific and technical data.
Some local media reported that the Somali government agreed the demarcation of the maritime boundary between the two east African countries in favour of Kenya.
Somalia which had not functioning government for nearly two decades has the longest coast in Africa but its case for drawing its continental reach will be complicated by internal division and the lack of capacity to generate supporting scientific and technical data.