Minister of Information Praises UK’s Role on Somalia ahead of today’s London Security Event 18 September 2014
London, 18 September 2014 – H.E. Mustafa Duhulow, Minister of Information today praised UK’s role on Somalia ahead of today’s London Security Event that will be attended by H.E. Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Somalia, H.E. Mohamed Shiekh Hassan, the Minister of Defence, H.E. Mustafa Duhulow and senior officials from the Federal Government of Somalia including the Joint Chief of Somali National Army Major General Dahir Adan Elmi (Indha Qarsho). The meeting takes place at Lancaster House, co-hosted by the UK and Somalia, to discuss support to the Somali National Army.
The Minister of Information said: “We are delighted to attend this very important security event in London that aims to bring peace and stability to Somalia. The UK has been a very strong ally to us, as we have seen from their constant commitment and leadership on Somalia. Previous Somalia conferences in London galvanized the International Community’s support towards Somalia, for which the Federal Government and the people of Somalia are very grateful. This event in London comes at the right time as the Somali National Army, with the support of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), are in the middle of Operation Indian Ocean, a military operation to clear out the remaining strongholds of the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab.”
The Minister of Information continued: “One of the objectives of the security event in London is to ensure the optimization of donor support to the SNA to enable them to bring long-term stability in the country. The Federal Government of Somalia will outline its vision for the development of the SNA and will set out the associated pathways for the integration of regional militias, compliance with the arms embargo, fiscal planning and human rights compliance. The expected outcomes will include an agreed path for development of the SNA to 2019, a commitment to focus donor support on SNA’s operational capability and a commitment between Somalia and the UK to continue to work as partners in order to convince the international community to support the development of Somali National Army. We also expect donors to outline additional support, details of which could well be announced at the end of today’s meeting.”
The Minister concluded: “The Federal Government of Somalia thanks the UK Government. Under the leadership of the Right Hon David Cameron MP, the Prime Minister of UK, the UK has shown continual commitment and leadership on Somalia. The UK has not only hosted a number of conferences and events here in London but has also shown serious commitment on the ground, such as establishing UK Embassy in Mogadishu (the first western Embassy in 25 years), supporting the Stabilization Plan, the development of human rights, media sector development, the judiciary and many other aspects. We will never forget the support of the UK and we are committed to taking advantage of this support in order to bring peace and stability in Somalia and to achieve our vision which is to see a Somalia that is stable in terms of security, politics and economy so that we can be a useful member of world community.”