Muse Bihi Abdi, the President of Somaliland, speaks to The Associated Press on 3 April 2018 in Hergeisa, Somaliland. Malak Harb/AP Photo
During his visit to Washington, D.C. this week, Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi received bipartisan vows of increasing US support for his self-declared state, despite the fact that formal recognition is still on the table – for the time being.
Bihi secured discussions with top Joe Biden administration officials and members of Congress during his first trip to the United States since President Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo in 2013. The visit brings to a close a months-long effort to strengthen bilateral ties with the US and other countries in the face of prolonged political instability in Somalia, fighting in Ethiopia and Sudan, worsening drought, and growing Chinese influence in the area.