Britain is appointing a new ambassador to Somalia, resuming its diplomatic presence after more than 20 years of upheaval.
Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Mogadishu on Thursday and appointed Matt Baugh as a senior UK Somalia representative. Hague is the first British foreign secretary to visit Mogadishu in 20 years.
The appointment comes just ahead of a February 23 global conference on Somalia that the UK is hosting.
Hague met with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and said the UK will help Somalia during a year of political transition. The Somali government's UN mandate expires in August.
The UN last month sent its senior representative on Somalia to Mogadishu for the first time in nearly two decades.
