Somali president plans to tour the US

Somali president plans to tour the US

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The newly elected president of Somalia plans a tour of U.S. communities with large Somali populations this fall in hopes of spreading the word about his country's problems and getting advice for solving some of them. Elmi Duale, Somalia's United Nations ambassador and permanent representative, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed wants to visit communities in Minneapolis; suburban Washington, D.C., and Columbus. Ahmed plans the tour after attending the U.N. General Assembly at the end of September, Duale said. He had no details on dates. Thousands of Somalis have come to the United States in the two decades since civil war began tearing their country apart in the early 1990s. The country has not had a functioning central government since about 1991. Ahmed sees the visit as a "two-way channel," Duale said, a chance to tell Somalis in the United States about the situation at home and a way of reminding them they can help. "It's a way of showing the Somalis in diaspora the homeland considers them still part and parcel of the community, and they have responsibilities to help and assist," he said. Ahmed's visit also comes as a federal investigation continues into the return to Somalia of several young Somalis from the Minneapolis area, apparently to join a terrorist jihad back home. At least three have died, including one who authorities believe is the first American suicide bomber. Three others have pleaded guilty in the U.S. to terrorism-related charges. Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president in January and hopes to unite the country's feuding factions, but violence has continued. The U.N. said last month that Somalia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years, with more than half the population needing humanitarian aid amid an escalating crisis. _Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed._