President Sharif CSIS Speech 2009

CENTER FORSTRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (CSIS) STATESMEN’S FORUM: SHEIKH SHARIF SHEIKH AHMED, PRESIDENT OF SOMALIA’S TRANSITIONAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

In the name of God, I’m very pleased to be here today with you. I want to thank the U.S. government for allowing us to visit in this country. I’m very pleased to be here at CSIS and its leadership allowing us to have this great opportunity.

First, I want to share with you warm greetings that I have from the Somali people, both myself and my delegation, and this is encouraging. I’m particularly pleased, both myself and my
delegation, to meet with the Somali community in the diaspora, which is working hard to find a solution for Somalia.

I want to take this great opportunity and this meeting to thank the Somali – to thank the people and the government of the United States, who have accepted to bring peace to Somalia.
Somalia is a large country with neighbors in a strategic location on the eastern Horn of Africa.When the Somali people earned their independence, they have chosen the democratic way and
elected a democratic government for themselves.

The military coup that – after the military coup, Somalia was ruled by the military for some time, for a long time. That ended in civil war and destruction. Many organizations came out with different names and titles but all based on tribal and clan allegiances. This resulted in the destruction of the country and a lot of displacement.

Here is the full speech:

CENTER FORSTRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (CSIS)
STATESMEN’S FORUM: SHEIKH SHARIF SHEIKH AHMED,
PRESIDENT OF SOMALIA’S TRANSITIONAL FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT