Garowe Online (Garowe)
19 October 2008
Somalia's interim Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein told reporters that he welcomes the deployment of NATO warships to help patrol the country's piracy-ridden coastline.
Speaking at a Mogadishu press conference Sunday, the Prime Minister said the interim government approves the international community's efforts to combat piracy along Somali shores.
He spoke for the first time about an upcoming conference, to be held in Kenya and hosted by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African regional bloc that helped form the Somali transitional government in 2004
"The IGAD Conference is aimed at correcting the government's mistakes," Prime Minister Nur Adde said, while noting that government leaders plan to attend the conference.
The Somali Prime Minister dismissed media reports of a brewing dispute between President Abdullahi Yusuf and Sheikh Adan "Madobe" Mohamed, the parliament Speaker.
The Speaker has defended parliament's vote in September to bar ten ministers from returning to Prime Minister Nur Adde's Cabinet after resigning in July. Full story
But President Yusuf rejected parliament's vote and was supported by a High Court ruling, which overturned parliament's confidence vote against the Cabinet ministers.
During the press conference, Foreign Minister Ali "Jengali" Ahmed and Oil Minister Mohamud Ali Salah - both members of the Cabinet rejected by parliament - sat next to the Prime Minister, Radio Garowe's correspondent reported.
On Mogadishu's Bakara Market, the Somali premier said the interim government had an agreement with business leaders about security.
He said government forces should not enter the market, while insurgent groups should be prohibited from using the marketplace as a conduit for guerrilla attacks.
Prime Minister Nur Adde responded to Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi's recent criticism of the Somali government's failures by saying that the critical comments will not deter the government's efforts to pacify Somalia after nearly 18 years of war.
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