Saturday 18, May  2024 {HMC} – The African Union Special Representative for Somalia, Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef, on Wednesday visited Beletweyne to assess the security situation in Hirshabelle State.

Accompanied by senior ATMIS officials, including the military Chief of Staff, Brig. Kindu Gezu, Ambassador Souef and his delegation met with the Vice President of Hirshabelle State, Yussuf Ahmed Hagar, and other senior state officials.

Ambassador Souef also held a separate meeting with ATMIS Sector Four Commander, Col. Said Waberi, and senior ATMIS military and police personnel. The ATMIS officials provided him with valuable insights and updates on the current security situation in the Hiraan region.

“It was a great opportunity for us to engage with the Vice President, the governor of Hiraan, and local authorities. We encouraged them to prioritise and address issues related to national reconciliation and social cohesion. I assured them that ATMIS remains committed to supporting all such efforts to the best of our ability, as we work together to promote peace, security, and stability in this region,” said Ambassador Souef after the meeting with the Vice President.

The delegation also toured the ATMIS Level II hospital in Beletweyne. Ambassador Souef praised the ATMIS Djibouti and Ethiopia forces for their invaluable contributions and unwavering dedication to the fight against terrorism. He commended the close collaboration between ATMIS forces and the local population, highlighting the various Civil-Military-Cooperation (CIMIC) initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the local populace, particularly the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) around the ATMIS Forward Operating Bases (FOBs).

Saturday 18 May 2024,{HMC}  It’s been wonderful to be in Puntland for my fifth and final farewell visit to say goodbye to President Deni and his team, and I’m particularly grateful to President Deni for taking time out of his retreat.

He’s having his first retreat with his new cabinet today as they talk about development plans and how they’re going to take them forward. That was one of the topics we talked about, and [also] the role the UN will play in supporting the various pillars of their development plan – I’m glad to say he has got some high ambition there.

Secondly, of course, we talked about the process around the Constitution and discussed the communique we’ve seen from the NCC [National Consultative Council]. I urged President Deni again to be willing to engage and discuss with other Federal Member States and the Federal Government, and put on the table his concerns. He said the door remains open. As we all know, he does have some concerns around the process and around the substance, but I felt confident that there may be a way forward and I, of course, offered the UN’s ‘good offices’ role to support him on that.

And then, finally, we discussed briefly security across the country and the importance of the country coming together in the fight against Al-Shabab and, indeed, Islamic State, and he committed to provide support on that.

So, it was a very fruitful discussion, a very good discussion, and we have agreed to remain in touch as I move onto to my next steps. Thank you to President Deni, his Cabinet, the wonderful women of Puntland, and the minister of Women’s Affairs in the cabinet too – I had a very interesting discussion with [her].