US set to formally recognise Somali government after 20-year hiatus

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/17/hillary-clinton-to-recognise-somalian-government

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The US will on Thursday officially recognise the Somali government in Mogadishu, ending a hiatus of more than 20 years and opening the door to increased US and international economic help for the country, a senior American official said.

Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, will announce the move during a meeting with visiting Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

His election last year marked the first vote of its kind since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Assistant secretary of state Johnnie Carson said Clinton would "exchange diplomatic notes with Mohamud and recognise the Somali government in Mogadishu for the first time in 20 years".

The US never formally severed diplomatic ties with Somalia, whose slide into anarchy was highlighted by the 1993 Black Hawk Down incident which saw militia fighters shoot down two US military helicopters over Mogadishu.

In subsequent years, al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab insurgents seized control of large areas in the south and central parts of the country before Ethiopian, Kenyan and African peacekeeping (Amisom) troops began a long, US-supported counteroffensive aimed at restoring order.

The formation of the new government led by Mohamud is the culmination of a regionally brokered, UN-backed effort to end close to two decades of fighting that has killed tens of thousands.

Carson said the US decision to formally recognise the new government underscored the progress toward political stability that Somalia has made over the past year, including "breaking the back" of the al-Shabaab insurgency.

"We are a long way from where we were on 3 October1993 when Black Hawk Down occurred in Mogadishu," Carson said.

"Significant progress has been made in stabilising the country, in helping to break up and defeat al-Shabaab. Much more needs to be done, but we think enormous progress has been made and we have been at the very centre of this in our support for Amisom."

Continued security concerns in Somalia were highlighted over the weekend when French commandos failed to free a French agent held by militants since 2009 during a helicopter raid in southern Somalia.

Clinton does not intend to announce any specific new aid packages for Somalia, which already receives significant humanitarian assistance from the US for drought, famine and refugee relief, one senior US official said.

But formal US recognition of the new government paves the way for new flows of assistance both from US agencies and international actors such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The official said the US did not have any immediate plan to reopen an embassy in Mogadishu but indicated that this could also eventually follow Thursday's announcement. US policy on Somalia is currently handled by a special envoy based in Nairobi, Kenya.