GAROWE, Somalia Sep 11 (Garowe Online) - The president of Somalia's Puntland government returned to the capital city Garowe on Thursday, after spending a month in the southern city of Galkayo, Radio Garowe reports.

President Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole," Puntland's elected leader, led a government convoy from Galkayo to Garowe, driving the four-hour trek along the country's north-south paved highway.

The Puntland leader's delegation was welcomed around the halfway point of the trip by another delegation from Garowe, led by Puntland Finance Minister Farah Ali Jama.

President Farole, Puntland leader

President Farole, Vice President Abdisamad Ali Shire and senior members of the Puntland government were in Galkayo since early August following the assassination of Puntland's former information minister, Mr. Warsame Abdi "Sefta Bananka."

Gen. Shire, the vice president of Puntland, remained behind in Galkayo to carry on government operations aimed at strengthening security in Puntland's second-largest city, which is also an important trade center connecting Puntland to southern Somalia and Ethiopia's vast Somali-inhabited region.

Puntland government officials say security in Galkayo has improved since last month's high-profile assassination of a government official and the brutal killings of Pakistani clerics visiting Galkayo.

President Farole was present as the Galkayo District Council was established and a new mayor elected to lead the city. The election had changed Galkayo's old guard with a new, younger mayor who is a businessman in Galkayo.

Also in Galkayo, Puntland leaders welcomed separate delegations led by Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake and a European Union delegation led by the EU's Horn of Africa envoy, Ms. Marika Fahlen.

Source: Garowe Online