New Somali president in New York

New Somalia President Abdul Qasem Salat Hassan arrives in New York to attend the Millennium summit which is organized by the UN and he therefore ends a " diplomatic isolation" for his country lasted more than 10 years.

Upon his arrival in New York, the new Somali President expressed his happiness to have his country back to the international arena after a ten-year absence.

He said that the message he conveys is that "a message of peace for Somalia and a peace for the African horn and for Africa as a whole."

The Somali President apologized for the bloody confrontation took place between the UN peace keeping forces and the Somalis during the 1990 s.

He added the mistakes were made by both the two sides " but I want to apologize to the UN and the world for the mistakes the Somalis had made."

The UN Security Council and the Organization of African Unity and the Arab League welcomed Salat's election as President for Somalia and they urged all the Somalis to back the current peace process.

The Somali flag was permitted to be hoisted at the UN for the first time since ten years while the Somali President was preparing to deliver his speech before the massive summit which lasted for two days and has already started on Wednesday.

The new Somali President who was elected last week by Somalia's parliament met in the neighboring state of Djibouti, had extended an appeal at the UN and the international community to forget the past and to offer finances to re-building Somalia.