MedeshiBy Mohamed Ahmed
Monday, December 15, 2008
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Somalia's parliament voted on Monday to reinstate Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein after he was sacked by the president, plunging the fragile government of the Horn of African nation into further disarray.
President Abdullahi Yusuf said on Sunday he had fired Hussein after they disagreed on a new cabinet demanded by donor countries and regional leaders at a time Islamist insurgents are camped on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.
Islamists control most of southern Somalia and Ethiopian troops supporting the Western-backed government are due to leave by the end of the year, fueling fears of a power vacuum and more violence in the already chaotic country.
Sheikh Aden Madobe, speaker of Somalia's parliament, said 143 of 170 legislators present in Baidoa had voted to reinstate Hussein and some called for Yusuf to stand down -- but the president's spokesman rejected the vote as unconstitutional.
Yusuf and Hussein, who had been in the job for only about a year, have been at loggerheads for a while and both claim the constitution supports their position.
Hussein's falling out with Yusuf began when he fired Mogadishu's mayor, a key ally of the president. The two also differ on the direction of U.N.-hosted talks that aim to get the government to share power with the moderate Islamist opposition.
In Mogadishu, hundreds of people protested against the president's decision to sack his prime minister.
RIFT AT THE TOP
The rift at the top of the weak, interim government is blamed by some regional diplomats for stalling the peace process and is worrying the African Union (AU).
AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said late on Sunday the prime minister's dismissal would undermine efforts to bring peace and further weaken the transitional federal government.
"The chairperson ... urges them to overcome the internecine divisions that are consuming their energy, in order to meet the daunting challenges confronting their country," Ping said.
The AU has 3,200 peacekeepers from Burundi and Uganda guarding key sites in Mogadishu, but Ethiopia has said the African troops plan to pull out when it withdraws its forces.
Burundi's Defence Minister Germain Niyoyankana said on Monday the AU mission would be staying put, however.
"We were surprised by the (Ethiopian) statement. Burundi has never said it was going to withdraw its troops from Somalia," he told a news conference, adding that Burundi had another 850 troops to add to its 1,700 soldiers in Somalia.
"We will send more troops if we get sufficient equipment."
Ethiopia has said its decision to pull out was final and blamed the international community for failing to fund the AU mission, AMISOM, to its planned strength of 8,000 troops.
A local rights group says 16,200 civilians have been killed in the insurgency since the start of last year when the allied Somali-Ethiopian forces drove the Islamists from the capital.
About 1 million people have been uprooted, and 3.2 million -- more than a third of the population -- need emergency aid. The chaos has also helped fuel kidnappings in Somalia and an explosion of piracy offshore.
Source: Reuters, Dec 15, 2008
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Somalia's parliament voted on Monday to reinstate Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein after he was sacked by the president, plunging the fragile government of the Horn of African nation into further disarray.
President Abdullahi Yusuf said on Sunday he had fired Hussein after they disagreed on a new cabinet demanded by donor countries and regional leaders at a time Islamist insurgents are camped on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.
Islamists control most of southern Somalia and Ethiopian troops supporting the Western-backed government are due to leave by the end of the year, fueling fears of a power vacuum and more violence in the already chaotic country.
Sheikh Aden Madobe, speaker of Somalia's parliament, said 143 of 170 legislators present in Baidoa had voted to reinstate Hussein and some called for Yusuf to stand down -- but the president's spokesman rejected the vote as unconstitutional.
Yusuf and Hussein, who had been in the job for only about a year, have been at loggerheads for a while and both claim the constitution supports their position.
Hussein's falling out with Yusuf began when he fired Mogadishu's mayor, a key ally of the president. The two also differ on the direction of U.N.-hosted talks that aim to get the government to share power with the moderate Islamist opposition.
In Mogadishu, hundreds of people protested against the president's decision to sack his prime minister.
RIFT AT THE TOP
The rift at the top of the weak, interim government is blamed by some regional diplomats for stalling the peace process and is worrying the African Union (AU).
AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said late on Sunday the prime minister's dismissal would undermine efforts to bring peace and further weaken the transitional federal government.
"The chairperson ... urges them to overcome the internecine divisions that are consuming their energy, in order to meet the daunting challenges confronting their country," Ping said.
The AU has 3,200 peacekeepers from Burundi and Uganda guarding key sites in Mogadishu, but Ethiopia has said the African troops plan to pull out when it withdraws its forces.
Burundi's Defence Minister Germain Niyoyankana said on Monday the AU mission would be staying put, however.
"We were surprised by the (Ethiopian) statement. Burundi has never said it was going to withdraw its troops from Somalia," he told a news conference, adding that Burundi had another 850 troops to add to its 1,700 soldiers in Somalia.
"We will send more troops if we get sufficient equipment."
Ethiopia has said its decision to pull out was final and blamed the international community for failing to fund the AU mission, AMISOM, to its planned strength of 8,000 troops.
A local rights group says 16,200 civilians have been killed in the insurgency since the start of last year when the allied Somali-Ethiopian forces drove the Islamists from the capital.
About 1 million people have been uprooted, and 3.2 million -- more than a third of the population -- need emergency aid. The chaos has also helped fuel kidnappings in Somalia and an explosion of piracy offshore.
Source: Reuters, Dec 15, 2008
