Somali leader in Kenya, pledges to improve ties

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-09 15:26

NAIROBI -- Somalia's newly-elected President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed arrived in Kenya late Sunday for a two-day visit during which he is scheduled to hold talks with his host, President Mwai Kibaki.

President Ahmed, who is scheduled to discuss the African Union and United Nations backed reconciliation efforts, pledged to improve ties between the two neighboring countries.

President Ahmed, who was elected in neighboring Djibouti in January, will on Monday discuss security issues, training of Somali police and border guards with President Kibaki, besides seeking bilateral support.

"I will do everything in my power to restore stability and get regional support," he said on arrival.

Besides a meeting with President Kibaki and European Union diplomats based in Kenya, the Somali leader will also meet heads of donor and charitable organizations in Nairobi.

The former Islamist rebel leader was elected Somalia President in Djibouti, following the resignation of former President Abdullahi Yusuf.

Yusuf resigned in January at the height of an insurgency against the Transitional Federal Government and occupation of Ethiopian forces.

Kenya's Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang'ula dismissed claims that Kenya is under threat from Somali Islamists. He said adequate precautions were in place to deal with any threat to Kenya's security.

Wetang'ula said the Kenyan border with Somalia would be kept secure, especially after the Al-Shaabab group, which allegedly has links to Al-Qaeda, made a foray into Kenya last year and kidnapped two Italian nuns in Mandera.

The minister was responding to remarks by Sheikh Hassan Yakoub Ali, a spokesman of the Coalition of Islamists controlling the Juba region in Southern Somalia, who said his group was ready to defend itself against Kenya.

"Kenya wants to invade us and we are ready to defend our land," Sheikh Yakoub said.

The east African nation has repeatedly expressed concern that the rise of a hardline Islamist administration in the southern port city of Kismayo and surrounding areas risked having negative repercussions on security within its borders.

Ahmed was elected Somalia's new president but his forces are struggling to reclaim control of the capital Mogadishu and the southern third of the country remains firmly under insurgent control.