Djibouti (Sunatimes)-President Ismail Omar Guelleh received the president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad, at the Presidential Palace in his last tourto discuss ways and means of enhancing the security and humanitarian situation in Somalia. Apart from the Djibouti president, Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita and the secretary general at the presidency, Ismail Tani, and Djibouti's ambassador to Cairo Mousa Mohamed Ahmad also attended the discussions.

The Somali president, who was accompanied by a large delegation composed of, among others, his deputy prime minister and minister for finance Sharif Hasan Shaykh Aden and the charge d'affaires at the Somali embassy in Djibouti Abdourhaman Mohamed Hirabe, told the press that the discussions centred around the situation in Somalia, notably ways and means of strengthening the country's security and Somalia's reconstruction.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad said that during the discussions with the Djibouti president, they both had the same views on the need of pursuing inter-Somali peace efforts.

Questioned by reports about the sending of a Djibouti force to support AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia], the Somali president said the issue was raised during the meeting and stressed that the situation is making positive progress. The president added that peace in Somalia needs to be consolidated with the participation of Somalia's neighbours.

The Somali president arrived in Djibouti yesterday from Ethiopia where, on the sidelines of his meetings with the Ethiopian authorities, he met the president of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, which is in the northeast of Somalia.

President Sharif concluded the interview by saying that the differences between Somalia and Puntland are minuscule and that the meeting with the Puntland president was the occasion to fix these differences.

It is worth recalling that Somalia's Transitional Federal Government signed a power sharing agreement on 16 March with a militia called Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a [moderate Islamists].

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