 Somali president quits, ending deadlock
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-30 07:40
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf resigned yesterday, ending a deadlock at the top of the interim government and paving the way for a new administration in the anarchic Horn of Africa nation. Yusuf told parliament that speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe would take over, in line with the constitution, and blamed the international community for failing to support the government. Madobe told reporters in Baidoa that he would remain until a new president was elected and said the government would have talks with "any opposition group". The weak, Western-backed interim government headed by Yusuf has failed to bring order and security to a country that has been torn by violence since a dictator was ousted in 1991. Islamists control most of the south and are camped on the outskirts of the capital, the government and its Ethiopian military allies hold only Mogadishu and Baidoa, the seat of parliament, while feuding warlords rule elsewhere. The instability onshore has fuelled rampant piracy in the busy shipping lanes off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation and sent foreign navies rushing to patrol the key trade routes. "As I promised when you elected me on October 14, 2004, I would stand down if I failed to fulfil my duty, I have decided to return the responsibility you gave me," Yusuf said. There was more fighting yesterday. Moderate Islamists clashed in central Somalia with fighters from the hardline al Shabaab Islamists and insurgents shelled the capital Mogadishu. Yusuf had become increasingly unpopular at home and abroad and was blamed by Washington, Europe and African neighbours for stalling a UN-hosted peace process. He had come under intense pressure to step aside. He had been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein over the government's composition and the two were also at odds over including moderate Islamists in the peace process. Hussein wants to include them and marginalize what he sees as a small rump of hardliners. Yusuf's decision to sack Hussein this month was not recognized by regional nations and they imposed sanctions on the president for hindering the process. Agencies (China Daily 12/30/2008 page12) |
