9 December 2011 Last updated at 09:13 GMT
Ban Ki-moon is the first UN secretary general to visit Mogadishu for 20 yearsUN head Ban Ki-moon is visiting the Somali capital, Mogadishu – the highest-ranking foreign official to go there in years.
He was wearing a bulletproof vest as he was welcomed at the airport by Somalia’s prime minister.
His visit comes a day after the fiercest clashes in the city for several months.
Islamist militants are battling the forces of the UN-backed government and African Union troops.
Somalia has been racked by war for two decades and has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
All major roads in the city were closed and flights in and out of Mogadishu were cancelled for security reasons.
Mr Ban is expected to discuss the political situation in Somalia, as well as the famine, which as been declared in some southern areas following a severe drought.
The BBC’s Barbara Plett, who is travelling with Mr Ban, says he raced through the city’s quiet streets to the presidential palace in a convoy of armoured personnel carriers.
In August, militant group al-Shabab said it was pulling out of Mogadishu but it has since staged several attacks on the city and Mr Ban’s visit was kept secret until after his arrival.
Al-Shabab, which has links with al-Qaeda, controls many southern and central areas of the country.
Our correspondent says the UN is growing impatient with the government’s corrupt and divided leadership.
The UN Security Council has said it will withdraw funding from the government unless there are serious effort to meet an August deadline to draw up a new constitution and reform parliament.