SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Well, Mr. President, welcome back to the Pentagon. I'm very glad to be able to host you here again today. Now, we're meeting at a key moment in your presidency, as you plan for the first phase of the African Union drawdown.

This period will be especially important, given the ongoing hostilities in the region, including instability in Sudan and the persistent threat of Al-Shabaab. I've been encouraged to hear of the continued success of the current phase of the Somali-led operation against Al-Shabaab in central Somalia. 

Our cooperation on these operations is crucial and we stand ready as your partner as you defend yourselves against these dangerous and violent forces. And our security cooperation is vital in other areas, too. That includes effective responses to climate shocks, such as the current drought, which has meant so much hunger and devastation for your people. 

Mr. President, I also appreciate the transparency of your security initiatives and the inclusion of key international partners in the planning of the Somali-led transition as we look to 2025 and beyond. Now, I remain grateful for the willingness of your government and your people to host our forces in Somalia.

Mr. President, let me thank you again for your administration's leadership to drive progress on these key security issues, and again, it's great to have you here. Thanks for making the trip and I look forward to today's discussion. Over to you, sir.

PRESIDENT HASSAN SHEIKH MOHAMUD: Thank you -- thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. For me, it's a great pleasure, an honor to visit here again, and thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to come and share with you about the situation in Somalia.

Mr. Secretary, as you are aware, Somalia has been in a very grave situation for the last (inaudible) days, and throughout this period, the United States has been with us at different levels, at different times. It's a very prolonged situation but now is the time that inaduible), and we hope that this is going to end soon.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the United States government for the assistance to our Somali people, in our fight against Al-Shabaab as well as the provision of critical new material and development support.

We recognize the defeating of Al-Shabaab requires more than capable and effective security forces, but also an inclusive (inaudible) building process and (inaudible) to provide the critical service to the public. My administration has made strives over the last year in these areas.

For more than a decade, successive Somali administrations, including my previous one, we were not able to reach political agreement on (inaudible) issues of this state-building due to the (inaudible) failure or (inaudible), or many other reasons.

Since my election, we held a sixth successive National Consultative Council meetings that resulted in a consensus agreement (inaudible) the federal member status on power sharing, judicial (inaudible) of the country, fiscal federalism, national security architecture, and the electoral model of a democratic Somalia.

The Somali National Army has recovered more than 70 locations from Al-Shabaab, in partnership with local communities over the last year. Investments in the SNA (inaudible) program have resulted in a capable strike force that has been the tip of the spear of SNA offensives against Al-Shabaab. This has proven to be a very, very successful endeavor and we are very much grateful for that effort in the last decade or so.

We are also improving (inaudible) security through enhanced intelligence efforts, resulting in a marked reduction of terrorist attacks in Mogadishu over the past seven months. This has been also a new area that Somalia has shown improvement.

Over the last six months, the government and its international partners have over 240 stabilization activities in the two states liberated from Al-Shabaab. Stabilization was critical because it is the link between the state and the people. We've liberated people who have been denied access of any public service for more than two decades. 

So the Operation Black Lion is the second phase of the war with Al-Shabaab. The Multi-National Forces have deployed key planning and operational expertise that are currently in position of joint coordination command in Mogadishu. So we're planning together. Your team in the ground are also aware of that and they have been invited a number of times in that center of coordination.

Of course, slight setbacks has been experienced due to rainy seasons mainly. We have advanced the security sector reform through the establishment of active interagency task force that is developing sustainability and affordability models for financing of our National Security Forces in the future. 

Our (inaudible) policy vote is for our current costs to be covered by our domestic revenue by 2027. Security sector expenditure makes up to substantial portions. 

Mr. Secretary, Somalia has been in a unique situation, as I said earlier, and we are, again and again, very much grateful for the support provided by United States. Many issues that I have raised with you last time when I visited here are still standing, but so far, we are so good and we are very much satisfied for the level of support provided. I thank you.

SEC. AUSTIN: Well, thank you, Mr. President. Again, welcome to the Pentagon and I look forward to our discussion. Thanks, everybody.

PRES. MOHAMUD: Thank you.