Foreign relations of Somalia

List of countries which Somalia maintains diplomatic relations with: As the headquarters of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional body, Djibouti has been an active participant in the Somali peace process.

It subsequently invested heavily in the education sector, with Cairo's Al-Azhar University leading scholastic and Muslim missions in Mogadishu, among other areas.

The tensions culminated in the Ogaden War, which saw the Somali army capture most of the disputed territory by September 1977, before finally being expelled by a coalition of communist forces.

In October 2011, a coordinated multinational operation began against Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia; the Ethiopian military eventually joined the Transitional Federal Government-led mission the following month.

[122] The United States government subsequently released a press statement felicitating Mohamud on his victory, and promised to continue partnering with the Somali authorities.

[123] In January 2013, the U.S. announced that it was set to exchange diplomatic notes with the new central government of Somalia, re-establishing official ties with the country for the first time in 20 years.

[126] In February 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Foreign Service veteran Katherine Simonds Dhanani as the new Ambassador of the United States to Somalia.

China's Permanent Representative to the UN, Li Baodong, also emphasized his administration's support for the Somali federal government's stabilization plan, including the latter's efforts at "implementing an interim Constitution, carrying out its six-point plan, strengthening institutional capacity, exercising government functions and extending effective authority over all its national territory.

[139] In September 2013, both governments signed an official cooperation agreement in Mogadishu as part of a five-year national recovery plan in Somalia.

The pact will see the Chinese authorities reconstruct several major infrastructural landmarks in the Somali capital and elsewhere, including the National Theatre, a hospital, and the Mogadishu Stadium, as well as the road between Galkayo and Burao in northern Somalia.

[141] In December 2014, Wei Hongtian presented his credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Somalia.

[142] Foreign Minister of Somalia Abdirahman Duale Beyle and Ambassador Wei subsequently held a joint press conference, wherein the officials pledged to further strengthen bilateral ties.

In 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe also announced that Japan would resume direct assistance to Somalia, particularly in the areas of security, industrial development, and bilateral trade and investment.

According to Sharmarke, the treaty aims to accelerate the ongoing reconstruction and development process in Somalia and to buttress local job creation.

Diplomatic ties were not severed though, and on 18 January 2017 Saudi Arabia's first ambassador to Somalia since the 1990s, Dr Mohamed Abdi-kani Al-Khayat presented his credentials to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu.

During the ceremony the Ambassador informed that Saudi Arabia would support building the Somali Army, establish a rehabilitation center for defected militias from Al-Shabaab and for refugees returning home.

Despite being one of the richest countries, Saudi Arabia left payment for assisting these deportees to the international community that had to issue emergency appeals to donors.

[159] In January 2016, Somalia received a pledge of aid for $50 million from Saudi Arabia on the very same day it announced it was cutting ties with Saudi's Shiite rival Iran, by expelling Iranian diplomats and closing an Iranian charity in Mogadishu -the Iman Khomeini Foundation- for "conducting activities beyond its mandate bent on compromising the country's national security".

During the talks, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble criticized the Saudi Government for not enforcing their maritime border laws that was previously agreed with Somalia in 1967, calling them "backstabbing and deceitful Bedouins".

In May 2013, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud accepted the credentials of the new South Korean Ambassador to Mogadishu, Kim Chan-Woo, the first diplomatic representative of an Asian Pacific country to work in Somalia in many years.

[162] Additionally, the Ambassador indicated that his administration would support the Somali government's ongoing reconstruction efforts, in the process making use of South Korea's own experience in post-conflict rehabilitation and development gained from the Korean War.

[167] Following a greatly improved security situation in Mogadishu in mid-2011, the Turkish government also re-opened its foreign embassy with the intention of more effectively assisting in the post-conflict development process.

This diplomatic achievement underscores Turkey's growing influence in the Horn of Africa, as it continues to strengthen political and economic ties with both nations.

[105] In March 2014, Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed began an official three-day visit to the United Arab Emirates to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two nations.

[174] Although relations between the modern-day territories of Somalia and Yemen stretch back to antiquity, the two countries formally established diplomatic ties on December 18, 1960.

[190][191] Although most Italian Somalis left the territory after independence, Somalia's relations with Italy remained strong in the following years and through the ensuing civil war period.

[193] In 1900, the emir of Darawiish monarch Diiriye Guure, namely Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan ("Mad Mullah") and their Dervish forces began a twenty-year resistance movement against British troops.

In 2012, the British authorities additionally organized the London Conference on Somalia to coordinate the international community's support for the interim Somali government.

Following the establishment of the Federal Government of Somalia in mid-2012, British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the new administration and re-affirmed Britain's continued support for the Somali authorities.

[195] On 25 April 2013, the UK also became the first Western country to re-open its embassy in Somalia, with British First Secretary of State William Hague attending the opening ceremony.