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SOMALIA: New prime minister named

22 Nov 2007 13:33:03 GMT
Source: IRIN

Background

• Somalia troubles

NAIROBI, 22 November 2007 (IRIN) - Nur Hassan Hussein, popularly known as Nur Ade, has been appointed Somalia's new prime minister by President Abdullahi Yusuf.

Hussein, in his 70s, replaces Ali Mohamed Gedi who resigned on 29 October.

A Lawyer by training, Hussein is a former police colonel who, until his appointment, had been the secretary-general of the Somali Red Crescent Society since 1991.

Like his predecessor, Hussein is a member of the Abdgal sub-clan of the Hawiye clan, which is dominant in Mogadishu,

Information Minister Madobe Nuunow Mohamed said the president had issued a decree naming Hussein as the new prime minister on 22 November and that he would be presented to parliament two days later.

A Nairobi-based analyst, who requested anonymity, said: "Hussein's appointment offers the TFG [Transitional Federal Government] an opportunity to reach out to various opposition groups and launch an inclusive political dialogue about the completion of the transition."

"He has a reputation as a capable administrator and technocrat who has steered the Somali Red Crescent Society during a very difficult period in Somali history," he added.

Hussein has been described "as a man who is not tainted by the civil war and the TFG's political wars".

A civil society source told IRIN: "He [Hussein] has no fingerprints anywhere. No one can accuse him of being a member of any of the various factions that have dominated the country in the past 16 years."

"I hope that his first priority will be to reach out to the opposition, stop the violence in Mogadishu and resettle the displaced," the source said. "He has the credentials to deal with the humanitarian crisis created by the fighting, but whether he will be allowed to or not is the question."

The analyst agreed. "The main question is whether he will serve as a loyal apparatchik to President Yusuf or try to appeal to elements of the opposition," he said.

The new prime minister begins work in a country facing a growing humanitarian crisis, where the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says one million people are now displaced.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament passed a resolution in Strasbourg on 22 November, condemning "the serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law committed by all parties to the conflict in Somalia" and calling for an immediate end to hostilities.

The resolution also demanded that all warring factions refrain from indiscriminate attacks on civilians, recommended an independent panel be set up to investigate war crimes and human rights violations, and appealed for an "an end to all foreign military intervention in Somalia".

ah/sr

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Last updated:Thu Nov 22 13:36:44 2007