U.S. to recognize Somali government, opening door to new aid
By Andrew Quinn
WASHINGTON | Wed Jan 16, 2013 3:07pm EST
(Reuters) - The United States will on Thursday officially recognize the
Somali government in Mogadishu, ending a hiatus of more than 20 years and
opening the door to increased U.S. and international economic help for the
violence-plagued African nation, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce the shift during a
meeting with visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, whose 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 told reporters.
"When the secretary meets with Hassan Sheikh tomorrow, she will exchange
diplomatic notes with him and recognize the Somali government in Mogadishu
for the first time in 20 years," Carson told a news briefing.
The United States 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 U.S. military helicopters over
Mogadishu.
In subsequent years, al Qaeda-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, U.S.-supported
counter offensive aimed at restoring order.
The formation of the new government led by Mohamud is the culmination of a
regionally brokered, U.N.-backed effort to end close to two decades of
fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Carson said the U.S. decision to formally recognize 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 Oct 3, 1993 when Black Hawk Down
occurred in Mogadishu," Carson said.
"Significant progress has been made in stabilizing 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 center of this
in our support for AMISOM."
Continued security concerns in Somalia were highlighted over the weekend
when French commandos failed to win the release of a French agent held by
militants since 2009 during a helicopter raid in southern Somalia.
STEPS TOWARD MORE AID
Clinton does not intend to announce any specific new aid packages for
Somalia, which already receives significant U.S. humanitarian assistance for
drought, famine and refugee relief, one senior U.S. official said.
But formal U.S. recognition of the new government paves the way for new
flows of assistance both from the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) and other U.S. agencies as well as from international actors such as
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
"The fact that we recognize a government there will allow us to do things
through USAID that we have not been able to do before. The fact that we
recognize them as a legitimate government will allow the World Bank and the
IMF to do things that they would not have been able to do before. This is
major and it is significant," the official said.
Mohamud and his team met with senior USAID officials as well as World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim during their trip to Washington, U.S. officials said.
The senior U.S. official said the United States did not have any immediate
plan to reopen an embassy in Mogadishu but indicated that this could also
eventually follow Thursday's announcement. U.S. policy on Somalia is
currently handled by a special envoy based out of Nairobi.
(Reporting By Andrew Quinn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
