“Signaling the latest step forward in rapidly strengthening U.S.-Somalia relations, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development spent five hours in Mogadishu on Thursday, the highest ranking U.S. administration official to visit Somalia’s capital in years,” theAssociated Press reports (Guled/Straziuso, 2/21). Rajiv Shah “spent five hours … in the Mogadishu airport complex, the most secure part of Somalia’s capital, but used his time efficiently, meeting with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon, Foreign Minister Fowsiyo Yussuf Haji Aadan, and aid groups,” Foreign Policy’s “The Cable” writes, noting, “Shah announced an additional $20 million in humanitarian assistance for Somalia” (Rogin, 2/21). “Shah said that after two decades of conflict, famine and terrorism, it was necessary not only to address Somalia’s ‘critical emergency needs’ but also to promote stability and recovery,” the New York Times adds (Ibrahim, 2/21).