On the fringes of the fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha, Qatar, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met with the country’s former leader, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.
The meeting was the first since Farmaajo handed over power to Mohamud last year, following a long and tumultuous political campaign. Many regard the fact that President Mohamud and former President Farmajo were able to meet amicably as a positive indicator.
President Mohamud is said to have informed Farmaajo about the government’s efforts to liberate the country, as well as the battle of the Somali people and the army to defeat the al-Shabaab terrorists.
Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, Somalia’s President from 2017 until 2021, now resides in Doha.
The meeting of the two presidents comes as Somalia prepares to step up its anti-al Shabab offensive in south and central Somalia, where the group controls significant swaths of country and wields great power.