Xinhua
Friday, June 01, 2012
Somalia is going to open an embassy in Burundi this year, visiting Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said on Saturday after his Burundian counterpart Pierre Nkurunziza met him in a courtesy visit in Cibitoke province, some 80 km west of the Burundian capital Bujumbura.
“We hope that the opening of the embassy of Somalia in Bujumbura will help us strengthen existing bilateral relations between our two countries,” said Somali President.
The Somali top leader was on a two-day visit in Burundi since Friday evening. He said he would pay tribute to the Burundian people for their support in the “peace restoration” in the Horn of Africa nation.
Upon his arrival at the Bujumbura International Airport on Friday evening, the Somali president said, “The main objective of my visit is to thank our brothers for joining hands with their Somali brothers in the search for peace and stability in Somalia.”
He told reporters that he inviting the Burundian president to attend an international conference on Somalia to be held in Turkey in June 2012.
The Somalia’s transitional rule is ending in August, while the war-battered country is facing security challenges, with the militant Al-Shabaab group still posing a threat.
The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is helping the Transitional Federal Government stabilize the situation. Burundi and Uganda are the main contributors of the AMISOM troops.