The closing session was attended by ministers and other senior Eritrean government officials, senior PFDJ heads and diplomats accredited to Eritrea.

In Yesterday’s session, Congress participants set up an Alliance for Reconstitution of Somalia and unanimously elected Sheik Sherif Sheik Ahmed as Chairman of the Alliance and that of the Executive Council, as well as Sherif Hassan Sheik Adem as Chairman of the Central Council.

Speaking on the occasion, Sheik Sherif Sheik Ahmed commended the people and Government of Eritrea under the leadership of President Isaias Afwerki for creating the opportunities to all Somali nationalists to sit in roundtable and discuss the liberation and reconstitution of their country. He further underlined that with the conclusion of the Congress, the Somali people are entering a new stage of unity, struggle and reconstitution.

Stating that the Asmara Congress occupies a very significant chapter in the history of the Somali people, Sheik Sherif Sheik Ahmed pointed out that the Alliance, applying all legal means, would work to drive out the invading forces of the Meles regime through coordinating and uniting all Somali forces that oppose colonialism.

Similarly, the Chairman of the Alliance’s Central Council, Sherif Hassan Sheik Adem, indicated that all basic Somali forces participated in the Congress and asserted that the work program mapped out would serve the interest of the Somali people. In this regard, he expressed confidence that the set objective would be realized.

Also speaking at the closing session, the PFDJ Secretary, Mr. Al-Amin Mohammed Seid, congratulated participants for the significant and encouraging outcome of the Congress. He also indicated that the Congress had proven that Somalis have the capacity to resolve their issues themselves provided they are given the opportunity to do so without external interference.

Emphasizing the need for Congress participants and indeed the entire Somali people to work together in a spirit of unity and trust through avoiding tribal differences on which enemy quarters may capitalize, Mr. Al-Amin underscored that the people and Government of Eritrea hold firm conviction and stance that the Somali issue is legitimate and that the Somali people are entitled to exercise self-determination without any external interference.

Likewise, the spokesman and former Information Minister, Dr. Zekaria Mahmoud Abdu, told journalists that the Congress concluded successfully and that the struggle of the Somali people under the leadership of the Alliance for Reconstitution of Somalia would culminate in victory.

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