Quint on Somalia affirms support for country's sovereignty, territorial integrity
Washington, DC, US (PANA) - Representatives of the Quint on Somalia have affirmed their support for the Federal Republic of Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unity and reiterated the need to reduce regional tensions through dialogue, including Turkish-sponsored mediation efforts.
They discussed the imperative of focusing on shared economic and security objectives, particularly to address ongoing and emerging threats from terrorist groups in the Horn of Africa, the US State Department said in a press statement on Thursday.
The Quint - Qatar, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States of America - issued a joint statement after their seventh meeting in Washington, D.C. on 1 October. Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) representatives also participated.
The press statement said the partners expressed support for FGS efforts to generate capable, professional, and accountable security forces and defense institutions. They also agreed to take steps to improve coordination of international training to facilitate more effective near-term operations and to assist the FGS to develop a long-term training capability.
“The Quint discussed the urgent need to finalise plans for the new African Union Stabilization and Support Mission in Somalia to follow the end of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia.”
The press release noted the importance of ensuring broad stakeholder input into the planning process, including from troop contributors, to produce a mission with feasible and resource-informed goals and tasks and a clear exit strategy synchronised with Somalia’s security sector capacity-building. Partners also discussed the urgency of finalizing funding options for the new mission.
The Quint partners reaffirmed the importance of stabilization planning for sustainable military gains and discussed how to more effectively incorporate governance, humanitarian, and hold force planning into military operations.
The Quint agreed to reconvene in Mogadishu for an eighth meeting.
-0- PANA MA 4Oct2024
