Somalia's Foreign Minister meets with Kenya's Deputy President

NAIROBI, Kenya - Somalia's Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi held an early morning with Kenya Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, with the two senior leaders traveling separate ways thereafter.

Fiqi, who has been engaging in charm diplomatic shuttle meetings on matters affecting Somalia, was traveling from Cairo to Mogadishu via Nairobi, while Prof. Kindiki was on his way to Maputo for the inauguration of President Francisco Chapo.

"Departure for Maputo, to represent Kenya at the inauguration of President-Elect Daniel Francisco Chapo, Republic of Mozambique," Kindiki, who formerly served as Kenya's interior and national administration minister, said.

"At the airport, held discussions with Somalia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi who was on transit from Cairo, Egypt to Somalia," he added in a post on social media accounts.

Kenya is a major security partner of Somalia and the country actively participates in the newly formed African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). Besides security and diplomatic ties, Kenya is also a leading trading partner of Somalia.

The meeting comes hours after Kindiki's successor Kipchumba Murkomen, said Kenya has managed to thwart at least 50 terrorist attacks in the last two years, with the perpetrators coming from the sisterly nation of Somalia.

"Our administration has thwarted over 50 terror attacks in the last two years. Terrorists are no longer waging attacks in Lamu and Northern Frontier Districts and this is hugely credited to the endless potential of our security agents," he said.

In Somalia, the Al-Shabaab militants and their ISIS rivals have lost significant strategic areas following operations carried out at national and regional levels. For instance, Puntland security forces killed over 26 ISIS militants in the Bari region within the last two years.

GAROWE ONLINE