Garowe Online (Garowe)
1 November 2008
Somalia's interim Prime Minister, Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein, told a Friday press conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi that he will build a new government for the war-torn Horn of Africa country.
The Somali Prime Minister was speaking following a set of decisions issued by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African regional body with seven member-states.
"A new National Unity Government that includes the opposition will be formed," Prime Minister Nur Adde said.
The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) inked a peace pact with the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), an opposition movement led by Islamic Courts executive chief Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
The TFG-ARS peace deal calls for a ceasefire to go into effect by 5 November and for Ethiopian forces to begin withdrawing from Somalia by 21 November.
Prime Minister Nur Adde said he will appoint a new Cabinet within 15 days, under new terms set by IGAD leaders at the Nairobi summit.
He indicated that the new Cabinet will exclude ten Cabinet ministers who resigned in July due to a dispute between the Prime Minister and Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf, the President of Somalia.
In September, Somali lawmakers voted to ban the return of the resigned Cabinet ministers, a move that frustrated President Yusuf, who backed a High Court ruling that effectively vetoed parliament's decision. Full story
Somalia' s Premier also spoke about pirate attacks off the country's long coastline and welcomed NATO efforts to combat piracy, while underlining that the TFG approved NATO's military operations in Somali waters.
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