Somali PM off to Ethiopia for IGAD meeting

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Somalia’s Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheik Ahmed has on Thursday flown to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa where he will attend the summit of IGAD member states due to be held in Addis Ababa today.

The prime minister’s trip to Addis Ababa will take for several hours before he returns back to Mogadishu on Thursday evening

Sources close to the prime minister indicate that during his stay in Ethiopia, the Somali Prime minister will hold separate talks with the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) heads of state to discuss with them on the latest developments in Somalia.

The prime minister will outline the IGAD leaders about the ongoing military operations in the country where AU forces and Somali government troops are engaged in daily combat operations to oust the Al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabab militants from the country.

Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheik Ahmed is expected to meet with the Addis Ababa-based international organizations and diplomats from countries interested in Somalia.

The prime minister’s trip comes as president Hassan Sheik Mahmoud is also out of the country, as part of Somalia’s efforts to restore the country’s diplomatic relations with the rest of the world.

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