Source Garowe online

The top U.S. African affairs diplomat briefly visited the city of Hargeisa, capital of Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland, to strengthen U.S. relations with the separatist region, local officials said.

Jendayi Frazer, the U.S. Under-secretary of State for African affairs, arrived in Hargeisa under heavy protection, where she was welcomed by senior Somaliland administration officials, the spokesman said Sunday.

Somaliland presidential spokesman Said Adani told reporters in Hargeisa today that Ms. Frazer's surprise visit to Somaliland is to meet with local officials and see the situation in the region first-hand.

The U.S. Africa diplomat met privately with Dahir Riyale, the breakaway region's leader, although no reports emerged from their one-on-one meeting.

"I am not here for the recognition of an independent Somaliland, which is a decision for the African Union," Ms. Frazer told reporters at Ambassador Hotel in Hargeisa.

She reasoned her surprise visit to Hargeisa as the answer to a promise she made to Mr. Riyale, who visited Washington, D.C., last month.

Ms. Frazer originally departed from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and after a brief stay in Hargeisa, flew back out of the region.

Unconfirmed reports tell Garowe Online several United Nations and other international aid agencies are seriously considering a temporary relocation from their regional base in Nairobi, Kenya, to Hargeisa, Somalia's second-largest city.

The move is related to ethnic violence in Nairobi, where UN aid operations to Somalia have been based for the past 17 years.

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