Kerry's Somalia visit first by a US diplomat

(MENAFN- Arab News) MOGADISHU Somalia: Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced trip to Somalia Tuesday in a show of solidarity with a government trying to defeat Al-Qaeda-allied militants and end decades of war in the African country. He is the first top US diplomat ever to visit Somalia.
Kerry arrived at Mogadishu's airport shortly before noon local time greeted by Somalia's president and prime minister on the tarmac. He immediately entered a series of planned meetings that include both of them along with regional leaders and civil society groups.
'This is a very important moment for Somalia' Kerry said. 'Great progress has been made and you have all contributed to that progress ... most importantly obviously the need to provide your citizens with the safety and security that they want and need.'
'We very much look forward to working with you toward building credible elections toward the building of a national army and toward the ability of Somalia to serve as a model for its ability to rebuild and reclaim its own future' he added.
The trip was made under tight security conditions. Somalia's government only found out a day ago that Kerry would join the State Department's top Africa official Linda Greenfield-Thomas on the voyage. And the fact that he was only dipping his toe in Somalia and not venturing past the airport highlighted just how dangerous the country remains.
'The next time I come we have to be able to just walk downtown' Kerry told Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Downtown Mohamud replied 'is very different now.'
Top of the agenda is the fight against Al-Shabab. African forces and US drone strikes have crippled the organization's leadership in recent years and left the extremists without much of the territory they once controlled or the cash flows needed to reverse their losses.
But as Al-Shabab has decentralized the militants in some ways have become even more dangerous expanding their activities in Kenya and other neighboring countries. Last month's massacre at Kenya's Garissa University College killed 148 people mostly students and underscored the group's capacity to carry out relatively unsophisticated but extremely deadly terrorist attacks far from its bases of operations.
Somalia has been without a truly functioning nationwide government for two-and-a-half decades. After warlords ousted dictator Siad Barre from power in 1991 they quickly turned on one another and plunged the country into anarchy. Militias extremist groups and Somalia's nominally national military all vied for power before the tide turned against Al-Shabab earlier this decade. Piracy also has been a major problem.