Ambassador Mohammed El-Amine Souef is the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) and the Head of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) arrived in Mogadishu.
He was appointed on 1st September 2022 by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
In his role as the SRCC and Head of Mission, Ambassador Souef, oversees the Military, Police and Civilian components of ATMIS. He also leads ATMIS on the implementation of the Somalia Transition Plan (STP), which outlines the process towards the gradual handover of security responsibilities to the Somali Security Forces by December 2024.
Until his appointment as the SRCC, Ambassador Souef was the Head of the Regional Office in Gao for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
He is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for the Union of Comoros. Ambassador Souef previously worked as the Head of the Regional Office for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). He was also the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Comoros to the United Nations in New York.
In pursuit of his mandate as SRCC to Somalia and Head of ATMIS, Ambassador Souef works closely with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and other international and local partners to support the implementation of the Somalia Transition Plan and the broader state-building processes in Somalia.
He also works closely with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and with other bilateral and multilateral partners, including the United Nations (UN), and the European Union (EU).
Ambassador Souef studied at the Foreign Service Training Academy in Pakistan; the Islamic University of Medina in Saudi Arabia; and the Sidi Mohammed University in Morocco.
He is a published author with five books to his credit on politics and geopolitics.
