UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrives in Mogadishu

[December 09, 2011]  MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Somalia's seaside capital Friday, the first visit in nearly two decades by the U.N.'s top leader to a city known for a seemingly perpetual state of war. Ban announced that the U.N. would move its Somalia office from Kenya to Mogadishu next year.

Ban's arrival in the war-torn capital city was made possible because of the military gains that African Union forces have made this year against al-Shabab militants, who last year at this time controlled most of Mogadishu. Still, the militants have been waging a campaign of roadside and suicide bomb attacks, injecting some risk into the U.N. chief's visit.

Ban, who was wearing a dark blue bulletproof vest when he landed, met with the leaders of Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed government and officials from the African Union military force.

"I believe Somalia is at a critical juncture, a moment of fresh opportunities," he told a news conference at Mogadishu's presidential palace.

Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed called the trip historical and said that many people around the world see Somalia only as a place of famine and bloodshed. He said Ban's trip proved that progress is being made.

Ban said that the U.N.'s Political Office for Somalia will relocate to Mogadishu in January. He also welcomed the decision by Kenya's parliament this week to contribute troops to the African Union force, which is now comprised mostly of Ugandan and Burundian troops.

Ban's trip was surrounded by secrecy. No public announcement had been made of Ban's visit though rumors began circulating around Mogadishu on Thursday, when Ban was visiting neighboring Kenya. The visit appeared to be the first to Mogadishu by the U.N.'s top official since Boutros Boutros-Ghali visited in 1993.

Mogadishu fell into chaos in 1991 after its last president was ousted. Warlords then turned on each other, plunging the country into a near perpetual state of anarchy the last two decades. After the failed 1993 U.S. military intervention that ended with the battle known as "Black Hawk Down," the international community largely pulled out of Mogadishu.

The city hosts no international embassies and very few Western aid workers. The U.N.'s mission for Somalia has been based in neighboring Kenya for years.

Ban's visit signals that the U.N. believes progress is being made, at the least by the African Union military force and perhaps even the U.N.-backed government in Mogadishu known as the Transitional Federal Government. The TFG has a president, a prime minister, Cabinet and hundreds of parliamentarians, though the government has few accomplishments it can point to and controls only the capital.

[Associated Press; By ABDI GULED]

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