France, April 5 -- Somalia has expelled the Ethiopian ambassador, ordered the closure of two Ethiopian consulates and recalled itsown ambassador over Addis Ababa's plan to build a naval base in the breakaway region ofSomaliland.

Authorities in Mogadishu say they've given Ethiopia's ambassador 72 hours toleave the country and ordered the closure of Ethiopianconsulates in Somaliland and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

However Ethiopia's foreign ministry told Reuters it was unaware of any such moves and has no information on the matter, which wasfirst announced by ther Somalian prime minister's office.

"This follows ... the actions of the Federal DemocraticRepublic of Ethiopia which infringe upon Somalia's sovereigntyand internal ...