WASHINGTON (Halbeeg News) – U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he had nominated Richard Riley as the Ambassador to Somalia on Thursday, according to a statement from the White House.
The White House said Riley will serve as the Head of the US Mission in Mogadishu.
The ambassador who is currently serving as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the US embassy in Ottawa, Canada will replace Larry André who has been serving the office since early 2022.
Riley previously served as the General the Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Peshawar town of Pakistan.
The reshuffle of US embassy leadership comes as Washington stepped up its support for Somalia’s government in the war against al-Shabaab.
Early this month, the US government donated more than 60 tons of weapons and ammunition to the Somali National Army.
The donation was meant to boost ongoing operations against the al-Shabaab and for future training of an elite infantry unit.
A statement from the embassy said the weapons arrived in Mogadishu’s international airport aboard two U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes that were handed over to Somalia’s minister of defence and chief of defence forces.
The weapons included “Sixty-one tons of AK-47s, heavy machine guns, and ammunition.”
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