The President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has reiterated that his government is ready to engage in dialogue and negotiations with the Al-Shabaab group.
President Hassan Sheikh said this in an invited discussion that took place in Oslo, Norway, and said that Al-Shabaab is waiting for them to be ready to negotiate with the government. Although he pointed out that the dialogue may take time.
“We believe that the end game of Al-Shabaab is negotiations, when they are ready. We were ready yesterday and tomorrow, we still hope they will be ready for that,” said President Hassan Sheikh.
He said, dialogue with Al-Shabaab can create new hope. The president also mentioned that Al-Shabaab needs to change their behavior.
“Anyone who can convince them to change their behavior, I think they should take that step,” said the president.
This is the second time that President Hassan Sheikh has called Al-Shabaab for dialogue in his two years in office, however, Al-Shabaab has previously refused to engage in dialogue with the government.
