TFG diplomatic victory- Somali embassies reopen ..

[General Duke]

1.Peoples Republic of China

 

 

 

 

Embassy of the Republic of Somali in Beijing

Ambassador: H.E. Mr. Mohammed Ahmed Awil

Address: No. 2, San Li Tun Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100600

Tel: +86-10-65321651, 65320717

Fax: +86-10-65321752

[General Duke]

Reuters: Somalia's new China envoy sweeps away the cobwebs

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - Old typewriters, dusty passports, faded diplomatic pouches, invitations to embassy parties from 1991 and pictures of a man deposed as president 15 years ago -- Mohamed Awil has a lot of stuff to clear out.

 

Not the normal duties of a senior diplomat in the world's most populous nation.

 

 

But as Somalia's new ambassador to China, Awil also has a tougher job ahead of him -- convincing people his country now has a viable central government, is back on track and will soon be open for business again.

 

 

The former Swedish trade unionist returned to help his homeland from exile in Sweden in 2002, and for his efforts was rewarded with the ambassadorship to China, with responsibility for affairs in Japan, the Koreas, Australia and Thailand.

 

Yet Somalia is so poor Awil gets no money from his government back home, which is appealing for international aid. There is only one other Somali working in the embassy, aside from himself, and most of the rooms are empty.

 

"There was still a picture of Mohamed Siad Barre above my desk when I moved in December," said Awil, referring to the man whose ouster in 1991 marked the collapse of central government in the country of some 10 million people on the horn of Africa.

 

LEAFY COMPOUND

 

Somalia has had an embassy in China since 1960, and it still stands on its original site off a leafy road in Beijing's diplomatic quarter, near the Iranian and Argentinian delegations Though Siad Barre was deposed in 1991, his ambassador to China stayed on, representing a government which existed no longer and a country that had descended into fiefdoms run by competing warlords.

 

In October 2004, in the 14th attempt since 1991 to restore a central government, Ethiopian-backed Abdullahi Yusuf was elected Somali president by lawmakers, though they were until recently based in Kenya and do not dare enter the capital.

 

Awil contends they are a viable and legitimate government, despite widespread scepticism in the international community.

 

"There is a government. Please stop saying that there is no government," Awil told Reuters, walking around the building. "There is a central institution whether the U.S. likes it or not.

 

 

"We have a parliament. We have a head of state," he said, adding that with warlords having been driven from the capital Mogadishu by an Islamic militia, the United States should throw its weight behind the new government.

 

"America has never supported the peace process. Now they have a chance."

 

Somalia's interim president has accused Washington of covertly supporting the warlords now swept out of Mogadishu.

 

PICTURES OF CAMELS

 

The signs of the former regime litter the embassy Pictures of pre-war Mogadishu and Siad Barre meeting Chinese leaders are piled up in one room, while portraits of the man himself have been hidden in musty cupboards, behind photographs of camels.

 

In one room sit old passports with visas issued by the long abandoned Chinese embassy in Mogadishu.

 

In another can be found the grey diplomatic bags that were once carried to the capital by European airlines that years ago stopped landing in Somalia.

 

Awil says for now the priorities of his government are rather more mundane than looking for investment from Chinese companies.

 

 

"Our priority now is peace and security," he said. "When we have security, the door is open for any country."

 

And one day perhaps, Chinese tourists will flock to Somalia, Awil added, pointing out that the Chinese admiral Zheng He visited the Somali coast 600 years ago on one of his voyages of discovery.

 

However, since December the embassy has only issued about 15 visas, for business.

 

"We can't guarantee your safety," he said of tourist trips.

 

Not that having a visa issued by his government would be much use, as airstrips all over the country are under no single authority and many charge their own visa or landing fees, often at the point of a gun. Somaliland, in the northwest, broke away in 1991 and has been run as a de-facto independent state ever since.

 

A blip, insists Awil.

 

"Other cities and regions are with the government," he said. "There is no problem outside the capital."

 

For the time being, Awil is redecorating the embassy, cutting back the weeds and sorting through the files left by the previous diplomatic residents. He hopes a large but desolate reception room, decorated with a few scattered seats and some wobbly shelves, will be ready for Somali National Day in a few weeks.

 

 

In the garden, which grew unchecked for 15 years, the ambassador himself made a bid at cutting back the trees and bushes. But they had come back, leaving the grounds a marked contrast to the manicured gardens of more affluent Beijing embassies.

 

"We have a gardener now," Awil said with a smile.

[General Duke]

Somali Embassay Kenya

 

Ali Americo with Kibaki

 

 

 

[ December 25, 2007, 08:17 PM: Message edited by: Libaax-Sankataabte ]

[General Duke]

Somali government names first foreign ambassadors

NAIROBI, June 10 (AFP) -

 

Somalia's government-in-exile has named its first foreign envoys in a bid to put the war-shattered country back on the international diplomatic scene after a 14-year absence, officials said Friday.

 

The transitional Somali cabinet, sitting in the Kenyan capital on Thursday, appointed ambassadors to the United Nations and China and announced plans to name other diplomats soon, they said.

 

"This is part of a government plan to have its own ambassadors across the world who will assist in putting Somalia back on the map," a spokesman for transitional Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed told AFP.

 

"These two are the first lot, others will be named in the future," said the spokesman, Yusuf Ismail Bari Bari.

 

Since the 1991 overthrow of the regime of strongman Mohammed Siad Barre, the Horn of Africa nation of about 10 million has been in chaos without any functioning central authority and has had only limited representation abroad.

 

Elmi Ahmed Duale, a physician and World Health Organisation official, was named as the government's permanent representative to the United Nations, he said.

 

Mohamed Awil, a Somali exile close to Yusuf and a political newcomer, was appointed ambassador to Beijing, Bari Bari said.

 

In addition to the appointment of the new envoys, he said the cabinet had also approved a 279.5-million-dollar (229-million-euro) budget although it has no means of raising revenue and is entirely dependent on foreign aid.

 

Observers said the budget was less a spending plan than a request for international assistance to help the government relocate from exile in Nairobi and establish itself in Somalia.

 

Yusuf, who was elected late 2004, is trying to give his government legitimacy amid a power struggle with warlords who control Mogadishu over the relocation of the government.

 

The president and Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi have backed a plan that would see the administration first move to the towns of Baidoa and Jowhar and stay away from anarchic Mogadishu for security reasons.

 

But warlords in the capital are demanding that the government move there.

 

The Kenyan government is set to host a farewell party for Yusuf's government on June 13, but it is not yet clear exactly when and where it will relocate.

 

bkb-amu/mvl/mb

 

Copyright © 2005 Agence France-Presse

Received by NewsEdge Insight: 06/10/2005 04:48:49

[General Duke]

source

 

Photo: Assistant Secretary Frazer and Ambassador Ranneberger visit Somalia

U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E. Ranneberger, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, from left, are seen in the U.S. Embassy in Baidoa, Somalia, Saturday, April 7, 2007. Frazer, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa made a surprise visit to Somalia Saturday for talks with the prime minister and president, officials said. Frazer is the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit the country in 14 years. (AP Photo/Mohamed Abdulle Siidi)

 

[General Duke]

. India

 

 

H.E. Ms. Ebyan Ladane

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipoteniary

Embassy of Republic of Somalia

D-47, Anand Niketan, New Delhi 110021

Tel: 24115672, Fax: 91-11-24115582

Mobile: 9999-89-5349

[General Duke]

The TFG and Yuusf have fostered great relations with all IMPORTANT neighbouring states.

 

Kenya, Yemen & Uganda

 

 

 

[General Duke]

That Picture and the welcome in China

[General Duke]

At the UN

[General Duke]

Gaining the support of an Arab power

 

 

 

 

[General Duke]

In Kuwait

 

 

[General Duke]

One of our new diplomats in Kuwait

[FatB]

does the guy only have 2 ties? red and blue?

[General Duke]

Those two colours go with any suit. Though he is a dapper dresser..

[Nephissa]

War ileen tanoo kale! Embassy baa la furay lahayne, adu mid ma laguu furay? Online-ba xataa Allaha ka dhigee.