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Kenyan President William Ruto said on Saturday that he and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni would help mediate a dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia that threatens to destabilise the Horn of Africa region.

Landlocked Ethiopia, which has thousands of troops in Somalia to fight Al Qaeda-linked insurgents, has angered the Mogadishu government with its plan to build a port in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Somaliland, which could gain recognition as an independent nation from Ethiopia in exchange for the port, has struggled to gain international recognition despite governing itself and enjoying comparative peace and stability since declaring independence in 1991.

The spat has drawn Somalia closer to Egypt, which has quarrelled with Ethiopia for years over Addis Ababa's construction of a vast hydro dam on the Nile River, and Eritrea, another of Ethiopia's foes.

"Because the security of Somalia ..contributes significantly to the stability of our region, and the environment for investors and business people and entrepreneurs to thrive," Ruto told a press conference at a regional heads of state summit.

Several attempts to resolve the feud in Ankara, Turkey, have failed to make a breakthrough.

The office of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in a statement that Mohamud had met Ruto and Museveni on the summit's sidelines, but it did not refer to a potential mediation.

Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, Somalia's foreign minister, told Reuters that previous resolutions by regional leaders had fallen on deaf ears in Addis Ababa, but he was confident that Turkey's ongoing mediation efforts would be fruitful.

Ethiopia's government and foreign affairs spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reuters)