US slaps visa bans on Somalis linked to delayed polls

Somalia election.

A Somali polling agent (right) explains the voting procedure to a voter before she casts her ballot in Baidoa during a past election. FILE PHOTO | AFP

The United States has slapped visa restrictions on officials in Somalia, believed to have played a part in delaying parliamentary elections that were to be concluded by Friday last week.

Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said the entry ban on some unnamed officials and their families would “promote accountability for their obstructionist actions.”