President Mohamud to chair security conference for Somalia at UN in New York

President Mohamud to chair security conference for Somalia at UN in New York

Source: Hiiraan Online, Tuesday December 12, 2023

New York (HOL) – Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will preside over a security conference for Somalia at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

The conference will convene representatives from 26 countries, the United Nations, the Arab League, the European Union, the African Union, and other delegates.

The key topics to be addressed include Somalia’s security development plan and international support for Somalia’s security and development. President Mohamud arrived in New York on Monday night.

On December 1, 2023, the United Nations Security Council lifted the arms embargo imposed on Somalia more than 30 years ago. The 15-member body adopted two British-drafted resolutions: one to remove the full arms embargo on Somalia and another to reimpose an arms embargo on al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud stated last month that Somalia has one year to expel the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group from the country, with the deadline for the remaining African Union peacekeepers to depart set for next December.

Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab has been waging a brutal insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 in a bid to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.