SOMALIA - TFG PRESIDENT RETURNS TO MOGADISHU

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 000625 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINR SO SUBJECT: SOMALIA - TFG PRESIDENT RETURNS TO MOGADISHU Classified By: Somalia Unit Counselor Bob Patterson. Reasons: 1.4 b,d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Transitional Federal Government President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his party returned March 27 to Mogadishu from Libya after a voyage that began March 14 and included stops in Kenya (twice),Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Djibouti, and Sudan. Sharif's unscheduled return (we had been told March 25 that he would depart Libya March 29 for the Arab League Summit in Qatar) was, according to UN Special Representative Ould-Abdallah, triggered by the failure of Qadhafi to arrange, as promised, a meeting with Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia Asmara leader Hassan Dahir Aweys. Sharif now plans to leave Mogadishu March 29 for the March 30 - 31 Arab League Summit. End summary. ¶2. (C) Following a voyage that began March 14, and included stops in Kenya (twice),Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Djibouti, Sudan, Libya, and Djibouti, TFG President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his delegation returned to Mogadishu, afternoon March 27, where they were met at the airport by TFG Prime Minister Sharmarke. ¶3. (C) Sharif's travels had produced an MOU on cooperation with the Kenyan government, allowed the TFG President to thank Uganda and Burundi for their contributions to AMISOM and visit wounded Burundian troops, as well as seek support for his fledgling government. Members of Sharif's delegation told us that the long trip had begun to wear on the President, who felt that he was spending too much time away from troubled Mogadishu, and could soon join the ranks of other would-be Somali leaders who spent their time in foreign capitals while their governments' sank into oblivion. Particularly frustrating to Sharif, they said, was the week of March 16, several days of which were spent in Nairobi reportedly awaiting a promised airplane from Qadhafi that never materialized. ¶4. (C) UN Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah told us March 27 that Sharif had told him March 26 that he left Libya when a meeting with renegade Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia - Asmara leader Hassan Dahir Aweys had failed to materialize. The President is now in Mogadishu, but will leave for QATAR March 29 for the March 30 - 31 Arab League Summit. RANNEBERGER