WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- The United Nations and former Somalia army authorities met in Washington Thursday to discuss security in the volatile Horn of Africa country.
The meetings in Washington brought together Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, U.N. special representative for Somalia, and former senior Somali army officers to address the ongoing instability in the country and ways to support future security, the United Nations reported.
The two-day gathering comes at a time of renewed rebel violence in the Somali capital of Mogadishu where up to 75,000 people have been forced to flee the homes. Somalia also continues to garner international attention for an escalating threat of piracy off the country's coast in the Gulf of Aden.
According to a news release, the former military officers participating in this meeting "are respected for their experience in training soldiers from other African nations."
This is "a great opportunity for Somalis to find within their past some solutions for the future," Ould-Abdallah said in a statement.