President applauds Hillary meeting

Somalia''s Interim President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Somalia''s Interim President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has today hailed his upcoming meeting with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton as "unique opportunity" for his government, saying it shows the World's readiness to revise its policy towards Somalia, Radio Garowe has reported.
"The Transitional Government has succeeded to persuade the International Community to address the difficult situation in Somalia" President Sharif said in a press conference in Kenya, where he is scheduled to meet the US Secretary of State alongside an African Trade Forum that kicked off in Kenya.
President Sharif, whose government is facing a hard-line Islamist insurgency in the Capital, said his government received an international support after it "decided to live peacefully with its neighbors". "This is a great opportunity for the people of Somalia, as the world is now ready to address their suffering" he added. The president said his meeting with US Secretary of State is "to consolidate the bilateral relations of the two countries and to collaborate in restoring stability and order into Somalia". President Ahmed, former chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamist group ousted by Ethiopian troops who entered Somalia in 2006 to help the Transitional Federal Government under former President Abdullahi Yusuf, is deemed as moderate Islamist leader by the United States which had backed the Ethiopian intervention in 2006. Secretary Clinton's meeting with the Somali leader comes as the second US high profile meeting with Somali government leaders. In December 2007, former US Secretary State, Condoleezza Rice met with former prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, in which she expressed US support to the Transitional Federal Government. Since it came to power, the U.S. government, under President Barack Obama, has been attempting to reshape U.S. policy on Somalia and has donated weapons to President Sheikh Sharif's interim government, threatened by strong Islamist insurgency. The president also denounced the involvement of Somalis in terrorism in Australia, and expressed sadness that individuals who have been given asylum are involved in terrorism in the same country. "Some Somalis who were educated in abroad are contributing in the destabilization of Somalia