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Obama's pick to be US ambassador to Somalia withdraws


Published May 11, 2015
Associated Press


WASHINGTON – President Obama's pick to be the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia in nearly 25 years is withdrawing her nomination.
An administration official says Katherine Simonds Dhanani is turning down the nomination f or personal reasons. The official spoke on a condition of anonymity without authorization to speak on the record.

Last week, John Kerry became the first secretary of state to visit Somalia in a move to dee pen ties. He cast the move toward restoring the ambassadorship as a "recognition of the p rogress made and the promise to come."


The U.S. Embassy closed in 1991 when Somalia's government collapsed in civil war. The State Department had planned to post Dhanani, once confirmed by the Senate, in neighboring Ke nya until security conditions would permit the embassy in Mogadishu to reopen.

 

 


Posted by: By Ali Harouri