MOGADISHU, Somalia Jan 10, 2015 (Garowe Online)-Somalia for the first time in 25 years is hosting 53^rd Extra Ordinary Session of IGAD Council of Ministers in war-torn Mogadishu, with six Foreign Affairs Ministers, International Community representatives and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud present, Garowe Online reports.

On Saturday Morning, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus officially launched the meeting at SYL hotel.

IGAD Foreign Affairs Ministers will be discussing the Security, Reconciliation and Vision2016 as the country prepares for direct vote by 2016.

Speaking in the session, Somalia President have spoken on the ongoing offensives against Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militants, achievements over the  last three years and the wider tasks in hand.

Ethiopia’s Tedros, Mohamud Ali Yusuf of Djibouti, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin of South Sudan, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed, Sudan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal-Eddin Ismael Saed and Ugandan State Minister Asuman Kiyingi are attending the session.

International Community Representatives including UN envoy Ambassador Nicholas Kay and EU’s Michele Cervone d’Urso have also joined IGAD Council of Ministers.

Security remains tight in and around the scene of the summit on account of possible terror attack on the first-ever high profile gathering in Mogadishu. 

GAROWE ONLINE