Garowe Online (Garowe)
18 December 2008
The disputed Prime Minister of Somalia, Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein, has traveled to the neighboring Republic of Djibouti to strengthen a recent peace pact he signed with an opposition faction, Radio Garowe reports.
Nur Adde, who was boosted by last week's vote of confidence, flew from the southwestern town of Baidoa where parliament approved his new Cabinet.
His plane made a brief stop in Mogadishu, the national capital, where a number of Cabinet ministers joined him on the trip to Djibouti.
"We are going to Djibouti to reinforce the Djibouti Agreement," Nur Adde told journalists at Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport.
He held a brief meeting with members of Mogadishu's local government and the national police command, the Prime Minister's aides said.
Nur Adde expressed optimism and support for the ongoing visit to Mogadishu by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, chairman of a divided opposition coalition known as the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has rejected the Djibouti Agreement, which was reached between Nur Adde and Sheikh Sharif following UN-brokered talks.
Yusuf, who refuses to recognize Nur Adde's premiership, appointed Mohamed Mohamud "Gamodheere" as Somalia's new Prime Minister two days ago.
But Nur Adde did not mention the ongoing dispute with Yusuf during brief comments to the media at Mogadishu airport, telling reporters that he had "no time" for questions.
The widening split between Yusuf and Nur Adde threatens to destroy the UN-recognized interim government and plunge Somalia deeper into chaos.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Garowe Online. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
