President Hassan Sheikh says Somalia has one year to eliminate Al Shabaab

The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that his administration has one year to expel the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group from the country, with the deadline for remaining African Union peacekeepers to leave looming next December.

The group has been waging attacks against the government since 2006 in a bid to establish an islamic state based on its own interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. President Hassan Sheikh, serving his second term as president, said in August he wanted to eliminate it by early next year.

Hassan Sheikh’s recent drive against Al Shabaab began in August last year, with the military rallying behind clan-based militias in central Somalia. He described progress as “encouraging,” adding that there were no indications at present that al Shabaab’s leaders wanted any dialogue with the government.

He said there was an acute need for the international community to help Somalia with its military efforts and to build up its state institutions, provide basic services such as health and education, and reconstruct its infrastructure