Somali ministers quit in protest at troop deploymentJuly 28,...

Somali ministers quit in protest at troop deployment
July 28, 2006 - 5:00AM
Source: ABC
Somalia's transitional Government has suffered a major setback when 18 members of its Cabinet resigned to protest Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi's decision to deploy Ethiopian troops to protect his powerless government.

The resignations came after a motion of no-confidence in Mr Gedi's Government was tabled in the 275-member national assembly to protest the presence of Ethiopian troops and the Premier's failure to exert authority across the nation.

"Eighteen members of the Cabinet resigned from the Government of Gedi because of their dissatisfaction with the way the Prime Minister was running the Government," said Abdirahman Aden Ibrahim, former minister of state for parliamentary and government relations.

Mr Ibrahim says Mr Gedi "was not guiding the Somali people in a manner that could help us develop this nation".

"The Government was just useless and unable to fulfil its mandate," he said.

"We failed the nation and there is no reason to continue being ministers."

In a brief statement, the members say Mr Gedi has violated the Somali charter - a form of constitution - when he named 10 more ministers in addition to those agreed with the Parliament.

Somalia's transitional Government sits in a warehouse in the provincial outpost of Baidoa, about 250 kilometres north-west of the capital Mogadishu.

"The Prime Minister has violated the transitional national charter," the statement said.

"[He] sacked his deputy and unlawfully named another one. The Parliament agreed that the council of ministers should be 92, but he added 10 of his own choice without the consent of the Somali Parliament."

Among the ministers to have resigned are Hussein Sheikh Ahmed for higher education; Mahamed Muhamoud Guled for rural development; Abdi Mahamed Tarrah for industry; Osman Hassan Ali Atto for public works; Mohamed Abdullahi Kamil for cooperatives; Abdikarim Ahmed Ali for monetary affairs; Farhan Ali for planning and Fausia Mahamed Hasan for women.

The others are their deputies.

Mr Atto, a warlord in Mogadishu, says he quit mainly because of the presence of Ethiopian troops, deployed last week to bolster the Government's weak defences amid a feared attack from a powerful Islamic militia.

"The Prime Minister is eager to see Mogadishu attacked by forces supported by the Ethiopian Government. Therefore, I do not want to be a member of that Cabinet," he said.

"There were many ways to resolve the Somali problem in a peaceful manner.

"I am against any sort of military intervention to solve the crisis in Somalia."

The deployment split the Horn of Africa nation, with the United Nations, the United States and western countries warning that any interference by Somalia's neighbours might scupper efforts to achieve lasting peace in the country.

The resignations come after powerful Islamic militia seized control of much of southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, after ousting a group of US-backed warlords in four months of deadly clashes that claimed at least 360 lives, mostly civilians.

On Thursday, Eritrea called for the speedy withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia, warning their continued stay risked provoking a regional conflict.

Mr Gedi's Government was formed in Kenya late 2004 after more than two years of peace talks.

It was seen as the best chance for the Horn of Africa nation to win a functional administration since the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Since then more than 14 internationally-backed initiatives have failed to yield a government.

- AFP