New Somali Premier Visits Hotspots

Abdulkadir Khalif

3 July 2011

Nairobi — Dr Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the newly appointed prime minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, visited for the first time the war front in Mogadishu on Sunday.

Accompanied by the acting Defence minister, Mr Abdihakim Mohamud Fiqi, and a galaxy of government and army officers including commanders from the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), the PM visited several hotspots including the strategic Howlwadaag, Bakara and Tribuunka road junctions.

While on foot, the PM inspected the landmark mosques of Moalim Biyamalow and Sheikh Ali Sufi respectively in Howlwadaag and Hodon districts in South Mogadishu.

At the height of the visit, the premier toured Gashaandhigga, the former headquarters of al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group.

At Gashaandhigga, PM Ali met Burundian peacekeepers serving Amisom that had established there a base in February this year, receiving salutes from a unit.

Talking to the media, the premier reiterated his government’s plan to continue the campaign against al-Shabaab. “We are going to reenergise the operations against the fanatical Islamists and the foreign jihadists until we capture the country” said PM Ali.

The TFG’s forces in collaboration with loyalists of moderate Islamist groups, namely Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea and Ras Kambini Brigade have captured several districts in Southern Somalia from al-Shabaab.

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