WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States, seeing new hope for Somalia, will appoint a new ambassador to Mogadishu for the first time since closing its embassy there 23 years ago as the East African country descended into chaos, a senior U.S. government official said on Tuesday. Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, didn’t specify exactly when the ambassador would be named, but said it would be “soon.” There were hopeful signs of improvement in the security and economic conditions in the country, following years when Somalia had become “a synonym for chaos,” she said at the United States Institute of Peace think tank in Washington. “As a reflection both of our deepening relationship with the country and of our faith that better times are ahead, the president will propose the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia in more than two decades,” Sherman said. A U.S. diplomat based in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya, who traveled sporadically to Mogadishu, has represented U.S. interests in Somalia. A State Department official said the new ambassador would not yet be based permanently in Mogadishu.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 18:30:51 +0000
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