Somalia PM names new government

21 August 2006

Somalia's interim prime minister has nominated a new cabinet, two weeks after the previous administration was sacked following mass resignations.

The new cabinet has 31 members where the previous one had more than 100, but many key members keep their old posts.

The interim government controls only a small area around its base in Baidoa.

In the past month it has been divided over possible peace talks with the Islamist group which controls the capital, Mogadishu.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi nominated the new cabinet only after extensive consultation with President Abdullahi Yusuf and the speaker of parliament, and this means that the nominations are likely to be accepted by parliament, the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan reports from Baidoa.

Talks

The announcement comes a week after the 14 August deadline that President Yusuf set for the nomination of a new cabinet.

Our correspondent says it is still unclear whether the appointment of a new cabinet will facilitate dialogue with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

The Islamists have repeatedly accused the government of bringing Ethiopian troops into Somalia, and have cited this as a reason for refusing talks with the interim administration.

Ethiopia is the Somali government's main ally against the Islamists, but both governments have denied the presence of Ethiopian soldiers on Somali territory.

However, Ethiopian troops were seen heading towards Baidoa on Sunday.

At the same time, the Somali government declared support for an Eritrean rebel group, the Eritrean Liberation Front, accusing Eritrea's government of supporting the Somali Islamists.

Regional rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea have both denied accusations that they are fighting a proxy war in Somalia.

Somalia's former government was named in 2004, following two years of peace talks in Kenya.

It had members from all the various clans and armed factions, which have battled for control of Somalia since it last had an effective national government in 1991.

However, the UIC was not represented - it has only emerged as a major power this year and now controls much of southern Somalia.


From BBC NEWS