IMF recognises Somalia govt after 22-year break

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (left), Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Somaliland’s President Ahmed Siilaanyo laugh on their way yesterday to a meeting in Ankara.AFP/Washington/MogadishuThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) recognised the Federal Government of Somalia late on Friday, ending a 22-year break in relations that could lead to IMF technical and policy support to the country.“The International Monetary Fund today recognised the Federal Government of Somalia, headed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, paving the way for the resumption of relations after a 22-year interval,” the IMF said in a statement. “The decision is consistent with broad international support and recognition of the Federal Government.”Somalia has been an IMF member since 1962, but relations broke after the civil war of the early 1990s left the country with “no government with which the Fund could deal”.Mohamud’s new government, which took office in September 2012, “has since enjoyed considerable support, including from the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, and many IMF member countries,” the IMF said.Somalia however still owes some $352mn to the IMF, and so is currently ineligible for any new financing.Yesterday Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon hailed the IMF decision as an economic “milestone”.In an official statement, Shirdon called the IMF’s decision on Friday “a major milestone in the country’s long road to economic recovery”.It was the latest in “a series of developments supporting the government’s policy of strengthening relations with its international partners”, the prime minister added.“The truth is that we are rejoining the community of nations and we must continue to demonstrate, both to Somalis and the world, that we justify this newfound confidence. There is much hard work ahead of us,” Shirdon said.Somali president Mohamud is currently in Turkey for talks with semi-autonomous region Somaliland. Somalia has been enmeshed in civil conflict and chronic fighting between warlords since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.A transitional government, backed by an African force, is starting to establish itself after major victories against the Shebaab, a violent Islamist group with links to Al Qaeda.Shebaab are considered to be on the back foot, having lost a string of key towns in recent months to African Union forces, Somali troops and Ethiopian soldiers.The UN Security Council last month suspended the arms embargo against Somalia for a year, easing the oldest international weapons blockade to help the government take on Islamist militants.