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Four more ministers quit Somali government

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 August 2006, 06:31 CDT

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Four more ministers resigned from Somalia's interim government on Tuesday, plunging the fragile administration into further turmoil after 18 top officials quit last week.

"This is our decision because this cabinet has failed the reason for which it was established. It has failed to reconcile the Somali people," said Sayeed Hassan Shire, an assistant minister who resigned.

The move came as East African foreign ministers and top diplomats met in Kenya for talks on Somalia, where Islamists who control Mogadishu and much of the south have challenged the authority of the Western-backed government.

Delegates discussed how troops might be deployed to the Horn of Africa country, and how to persuade the two sides to hold talks. A statement was expected later on Tuesday.

Shire, along with Minister of Minerals and Water Mohamud Salad Nur and two other assistant ministers, announced their resignation in Baidoa, the provincial seat of President Abdullahi Yusuf's government.

The resignations are the latest to rock the government after 18 ministers and assistant ministers quit last week in what they said was a move to facilitate peace talks with their rivals, but a spokesman said the vacant posts would be filled within a week.

"Their positions will be filled immediately, maybe within a week's time," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said.

The cabinet originally comprised 42 ministers, eight of whom have resigned in the past week.

CONFIDENCE VOTE

The government did however receive a boost over the weekend when the Somali parliament failed to support a no confidence vote against Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi.

Further extending their influence in Somalia, the Islamists opened a new sharia court on Tuesday 600 km (375 miles) north of the capital, local officials said.

The Islamists have been expanding into more remote areas in an effort to consolidate control over the nation of 10 million after ousting U.S.-backed warlords from Mogadishu in June.

"If the residents of every area in Somalia ask us to ... we should go and install Islamic courts," said Mohamed Qoryarey, leader of Islamic Courts' militia in Adaado district, located 120 km (75 miles) from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

The Islamist movement initially presented a moderate face, but the rise of hardline cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys as its most influential leader has fueled fears that the Islamists want to establish a Taliban-like state.

Aweys arrived in the district on Monday to meet with elders, local media reported.

"We welcome the installation of the Islamic Courts here," said district administration officer Sharmarke Suuley.

In the latest incident highlighting a possible move to a hardline religious legal system, the Islamic Courts of Middle Shabelle region, 170 km (105 miles) north of Mogadishu, allowed a man to shoot dead the murderer of his son, residents said.

Somalia's interim government -- the 14th attempt at central rule since the nation plunged into chaos after the 1991 overthrow of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre -- has been powerless to stop the advance of the Islamists.

Source: REUTERS

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