Somalia names new prime minister

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (L) and his new Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali at a press conference at Mogadishu on June 23, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185945.html

Acting Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has been announced as the country's new premier following Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's resignation.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on Thursday mandated Ali with forming a government, Reuters reported.

“He is a good man and worked hard while he was the deputy for the former PM. I hope he will improve the situation of Somalia,” Sheikh Ahmed said at a news conference in the capital Mogadishu.

The former prime minister stepped down last week following a deal inked earlier in June between the president and Parliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. The deal extended the embattled administration's mission by 12 months.

The Kampala agreement is to settle prolonged disputes between the two opponents, which have infuriated international donors pushing for immediate political reform and ending armed clashes between rival factions.

The Ahmed administration was to be dissolved in August and the president and the speaker, who have been vying for the top post, were wrangling over the next step.

Ali, who graduated in public administration from Harvard and in economics from Vanderbilt University, was a professor of economics in the United States before joining the Somali government. He also served as minister for planning and international cooperation.

“Somalia is in a difficult situation, there is an economic crisis and insecurity. I hope I will succeed in overcoming all these problems. I urge the entire government and Somalis to help me achieve this,” the technocrat new prime minister said.

Ali is expected to name his cabinet within the next few weeks following consultations with members of parliament and clan elders.

MPs killed in Somali hotel raid

al-Shabab fighters in 2008


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139885.html


Many Somali lawmakers have been killed after al-Shabab fighters raided a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, where government officials were staying.

Reuters quoted a legislator inside the Hotel as saying that 15 parliamentarians have been killed during the Tuesday attack.

"We have captured and killed 40 lawmakers" inside a Hotel named Weheliye, al-Shabab spokesman told a Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu.

Somali government officials have only confirmed the death of three lawmakers.

The report came a day after at least 38 people were killed and dozens injured in clashes between al-Shabab fighters and pro-government forces in Somalia.

Fierce clashes broke out in the capital city of Mogadishu on Monday after al-Shabab fighters attacked positions of pro-government forces backed by African Union (AU) forces, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Witnesses said nonstop shelling rocked the famous Bakara market, causing civilian casualties.

Mogadishu's Medina hospital reported receiving at least 75 wounded civilians.

An official from Ahlu Sunnah Wal-Jama, a pro-government militia who requested not to be named, blamed rival fighters for starting the fighting.

"They attacked our bases in Dabka intersection but we repelled and pushed them further into Bakara, where they launch their offensives from," he said.

The Somali government condemned the latest offensives by the militant group.

"Al-Shabab spokesperson publicly declared war against the Somali people and government on Monday. This shows their lack of regards for the holy month of Ramadan. It is against Islam and the Somali culture to fight against another Somali," said a statement from Ministry of Information.

The latest skirmishes come after al-Shabab announced that it would be launching major offensives against the UN-backed government and African Union troops.