President Mohamud to push for security support in meeting with US Defence Minister in Washington

GOOBJOOG NEWS|WASHINGTON: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in Washington on Thursday where he is expected to hold talks with US government officials before heading to New York for the 77th UN General Assembly.

Villa Somalia spokesman Abdikarim Kaar said the President will hold talks with senior Biden administration officials and the leadership of the International Monetary Fund. The President will also meet the Somali community in Washington before proceeding to New York for the UN General Assembly, Kaar said.

Sources have intimated to Goobjoog News that the President will be meeting US Defence Minister Lloyd Austin where the two sides will focus on the security situation in Somalia. President Mohamud has singled out the war against Al-Shabaab as his foremost domestic policy and will be therefore seeking enhanced US support to realise this milestone.

So far, the President has pioneered a citizen centred approach in the war against Al-Shabaab. Residents in Hiiraan and Galgadud regions in Central Somalia have since joined hands in the fight against Al-Shabaab. The government said this past week over 100 Al-Shabaab militants had been killed during the operations while Somali  National Army recaptured at least 20 locations.

The Biden administration announced a return of US forces into Somalia shortly after President Mohamud’s election in mid May.

On the debt relief process, the President will be presenting his government’s plan towards the debt cancellation milestone unde the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) iniative. The World Bank and IMF rolled out a three year programme in 2021 that would see Somalia meet the Completion Point under the HIPC process in 2024. That programme demands concerted economic reforms and by Somalia.

The President returns to Washington today close to a decade after his last visit in January 2013 during his first term in office.