Somali assembly chooses Speaker

Neighbours Djibouti have bankrolled the process

The newly-created transitional parliament of Somalia has elected its speaker, as it moves towards appointing the first head of state in Somalia for nearly a decade.

The assembly, sitting at Arta in Djibouti, overwhelmingly supported the nomination of Abdallah Deerow Issaq, a member of the Dighl-Mirifleh community, as Speaker.

The armed factions which have dominated Somalia since the fall of Siad Barré in 1991 remain hostile to the assembly, which has been convened by the civil and business community and expatriates.

Correspondents say that, as the result of a tacit agreement between MPs, the posts of interim president and vice-president are likely to be given to members of Somalia's other main groups.

Somalia's four main groups - the Hawiye, Darod, Dir and Rahanwein - have 44 seats each in the 245 seat assembly.

Baidoa bound

Abdallah Deerow Isaaq is a former schoolteacher and translator, and has been the head of the political wing of the armed group, the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA).

Many warlords are hostile to the parliament

He immediately promised to "serve the interests of all Somalis" in his new post.

The RRA controls the town of Baidoa, which has been chosen as the interim seat of the forthcoming transitional government - largely because of opposition from warlords in the capital, Mogadishu.

So far, there are more than 40 candidates for the post of president.

The election will require several rounds as the winner will need an absolute majority in the parliament.

The country's transitional parliament was inaugurated in neighbouring Djibouti a week ago.

The initiative, sponsored by Djibouti's President, Ismael Omar Guelleh, was the culmination of three months of discussions with a range of factional groups.

The leaders of Somaliland and Puntland, two regions in northern Somalia are opposed to the new authority, viewing it as a threat to their relative stability and autonomy.