Garowe Online (Garowe)
11 August 2008
The Ethiopian army's top generals in Somalia have began holding private discussions with interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein in a bid to avert the transitional government's collapse, confidential sources tell Somali news agency Garowe Online.
Gen. Gabre and Gen. Yohanis returned to the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday, after being recalled to Addis Ababa earlier this month by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Sources at the Villa Somalia presidential palace said the generals have began holding one-on-one talks with President Yusuf and Premier Nur Adde upon their return from Addis Ababa.
The President is being "pressured to accept" the Prime Minister's decision to fire Mohamed Dheere as Mogadishu's mayor, the sources added.
In return, the Prime Minister has been asked to abandon five new faces he named to the Cabinet, after ten ministers - who are reportedly pro-Yusuf - resigned from the Cabinet, widening the political rift between the Somali leaders.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV has reported that the Ethiopian government "plans to replace" Yusuf as Somalia's interim president, if the ongoing dispute worsens.
Meanwhile, Somali lawmakers are pouring into the southwestern town of Baidoa, where the country's transitional federal parliament has been based since 2006 for security-related reasons.
Upwards of 200 MPs - out of a 275-seat parliament - have already arrived in Baidoa and will reportedly open debate on "important motions," according to legislative sources.
Somalia's interim government, established in 2004, has less than one year left before its mandate expires.
But critics say the government has been crippled by lack of popular support, corruption allegations and endless quarrels among its top leaders.
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