The United Nations on Tuesday re-opened its political office in Somalia's capital Mogadishu after a 17-year absence - a move that reflects gains made against militant group al-Shabaab, according to dpa. "I sincerely hope that the arrival of the UN Political Office will mark the start of renewed hope for the future of Somalia," said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Augustine P Mahiga. "Being in Mogadishu will allow us to work far more closely with the Transitional Federal Institutions, the UN agencies and NGOs already based here, civil society and ordinary Somalis," he added. The Somali government has been lobbying for the UN to begin relocating operations from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where Mahiga and his office were based. The last special representative left Mogadishu in 1995.
