Somalia president meets Qatar leader

DOHA, Qatar Aug 28 (TF.SF) - The president of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has met with the leaders of Qatar’s government in the capital Doha, Radio Garowe reports.Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who became president of Somalia in January, met privately with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani, at the State House in the Qatari capital, Doha.The Somali president’s delegation, which flew from Mogadishu on Thursday, included Foreign Minister Ali “Jangeli” Ahmed and Fisheries Minister Abdirahman Ibbi, officials said.No official reports emerged from the meetings, but President Sheikh Sharif has traveled to African and Arab countries seeking financial and technical support to boost the fragile TFG, which controls pockets of Mogadishu.Islamist insurgent factions, namely Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, control large swathes of the Horn of Africa country and dominate many districts in Mogadishu. The insurgency threatens to overthrow Somalia’s Western-backed interim government, which was established in 2004.Some reports said President Sheikh Sharif will also travel to a number of Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Libya and Egypt.