Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
8 January 2009
Garowe — The semi-autonomous of Puntland's parliament elected Abdurahman Mohamed Farole as the new president puntland in northeast of Somalia.
Farole received 49 votes in the 66-member house after hard contest and replaces Mohamud Musa Hirsi (Adde), who was ousted in the first round of voting.
He becomes the third president of Puntland, a region which declared its autonomy in 1998.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed who resigned as Somali president last month was the first president of Puntland regions.
Abdisamad Ali Shire was also elected as the vice president of Puntland receiving 43 votes in 66-member of parliament.
Farole held the finance ministry portfolio under Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed and was one of the main opposition leaders during Adde Musa's term.
The coast of Puntland is a major hub for pirates who have turned the Gulf of Aden into the world's most dangerous waters, wreaking panic in the world's shipping industry.
Puntland's security apparatus was depleted by Yusuf's Ethiopia-backed war effort against the Islamists and has become largely lawless. Several foreign reporters and aid workers were kidnapped there in recent months.
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