President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent a message of heartfelt facilitation and best wishes to the Government and people of the Republic of Somalia on the occasion marking the celebration of the 56th Independence Anniversary.

July 1 is a national holiday observed annually as the Independence Day of Somalia. The date celebrates the union of the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) and the State of Somaliland (the former British Somaliland) on July 1, 1960, which formed the Somali Republic (Somalia).

According to a Foreign Ministry release, in her message to His Excellency Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, President Sirleaf entertained the hope that the cordial ties of friendship subsisting between their two countries and peoples will continue to be further strengthened.