MOGADISHU, Somalia – The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh has thanked the leaders of the IGAD member states for their role in lifting the arms embargo on his country.
Speaking at the IGAD summit in Djibouti on Saturday, President Hassan Sheikh said that Somalia championed lifting the arms embargo with the support of partner countries.
“I thank the members of the IGAD counties for their support in lifting the arms embargo on Somalia and our request for inclusion in the East African Community, measures that testify to our efforts to ensure a stable and progressive Somalia,” he said.
In addition, IGAD played a major role in Somalia’s joining the East African Community [EAC] to get access to business opportunities and social integration of the regional bloc.
Last week, Somalia joined the East African Community, a milestone that testifies to Hassan Sheikh’s efforts to ensure a stable and progressive Somalia, stood again on its feet.
On December 1, 2023, the UN Security Council lifted the arms embargo imposed on Somalia in January 1992, a year after the fall of the ouster of the military ruler Mohamed Siad Barre who seized power in October 1969.
The 15-member body adopted two British-drafted resolutions: one to remove the full arms embargo on Somalia and another to reimpose an arms embargo on al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants.
Somalia’s government had long asked for the arms embargo to be removed so it could beef up its forces to take on the militants. The Security Council began to partially start lifting measures on Somalia’s security forces in 2013.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said last week that Somalia has one year to expel al-Shabab, with the deadline for remaining African Union peacekeepers to leave looming in December 2024.
