ADDIS ABABA Sunday 1 September 2022 (SD) – The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has appointed Ambassador Mohammed El-Amine Souef, a native of Comoros, as his special envoy to Somalia and head of the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).

Prior to this appointment, Ambassador Souef was the Comoros Minister of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Gao Regional Office of the United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Ambassador Souef also served as the Regional Head of the African Union-United Nations Joint Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

“In pursuit of his mandate as SRCC to Somalia and Head of ATMIS, Ambassador Souef will maintain close and constant interaction with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and other Somali stakeholders in supporting implementation of the Somali Transition Plan and broader state-building processes in Somalia. He will also work closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and its Member States, as well as with relevant bilateral and multilateral partners, including the United Nation (UN) and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and the European Union (EU).” said The Chairperson.

The former Prime Minister of Somalia, Mohamed Hussein Roble, in April of this year, expelled the former African Union Ambassador to Somalia, Francisco Madeira, accusing him of political interference.