Cablegate: Somalia - Unga Attendance by President Sharif

VZCZCXRO4737
OO RUEHDE RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNR #1892 2521252
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091252Z SEP 09 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0928
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 7557
INFO RUCNSOM/SOMALIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS NAIROBI 001892

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (REMOVED SENSITIVE CAPTION)

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR IO/UNP: SUN
ALSO FOR AF/E: DRIANO and AF/RSA: MAZEL
USUN: DUGAN
NSC: BROWN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL OTRA OVIP KSEP CVIS UNGA SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - UNGA Attendance by President Sharif

REF: State 68590

1. On September 4, the Somali Embassy in Nairobi provided us with a
list of the Transitional Federal Government delegation that will
represent Somalia at the 64th UN General Assembly. The delegation
will be led by President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed who plans to arrive in
New York the morning of September 24. President Sharif indicated
that during his trip, he would like to travel to Washington to meet
with senior U.S. officials. The TFG delegation also plans to travel
to other U.S. states, including Minnesota and Ohio, where there are
large communities of Somalis. At this time, the delegation does not
have a specific itinerary. We will communicate it septel as soon as
the details become available.

2. The following responses are keyed to reftel questions in para 9.

A. The Head of State plans to attend UNGA:
-- Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of the Transitional Federal
Government of Somalia
-- Arrival in New York is scheduled September 24 at 0745. There are
no additional details on his itinerary currently available.
-- The spouse of President Sharif will not travel to New York.
-- Interpretation in either Somali or Arabic would be required in
both a bilateral or multilateral meeting.

B. President Sharif is both the Head of State and the Head of
Government.

C. The Foreign Minister plans to attend UNGA:
-- Ali Ahmed Jama Jangeli, Minister of Foreign Affairs
-- The Foreign Minister plans to arrive on/about September 24, but
we have not yet received a detailed itinerary for his visit.
-- The spouse of the Minister does not plan to travel to New York.
-- Interpretation would not be required for either bilateral or
multilateral meetings.

D. The other VIPs who plan to attend UNGA follow:

-- Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Finance

-- Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, Minister of Air and Land Transport

-- Faduma Abdullahi Mohamud, Member of Parliament

-- Farah Ahmed Omar, Commander in Chief of Somali Navy & Coastal
Guard

-- Abdulkareem Hassan Jama, Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the
President

-- Ambassador Mohamed Ali Nur, Somali Ambassador to Kenya

-- Mukhtar Ainashe, Director of Institutional Development

-- Mursal Mohamud Saney, Advisor to the President

-- Sharif Mohamed Mohamud, Protocol Officer

-- Abdullahi Ali Anod, ADC Officer to the President

-- Mohamed Haji Abdi Nur, PA to the Minister of Finance
E. The Foreign Ministry official responsible for IO affairs has no
plans to attend UNGA.

RANNEBERGER

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