Search begins for new Somali PM

Some accuse President Abdulkassim of plotting to overthrow the prime minister

President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan has begun discussions on the next move for Somalia following the government's fall.

It is a new page in Somalia's history which teaches our people that the top government officials can be held account for their responsibilities

Sacked cabinet minister

President Abdulkassim held meetings on Monday, a day after the government of Prime Minister Dr Ali Khalif Galaydh lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

He told journalists the search was now on for a new prime minister with "the capacity to contribute to reconciliation" in the strife-torn country.

The motion against Mr Galaydh and his cabinet was tabled last week by members of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA).

The parliament said the government had failed to bring security and economic stability to the country after a year in office.

The president told the "sacked" ministers he wanted them to continue with their work until he appointed a new administration.

Mediation and reconciliation

Speaking to journalists on Monday, President Abdulkassim said once the new premier takes office, he will have 30 days to form a cabinet.

Parliament said Prime MInister Galaydh had failed to bring stability

He also said a delegation representing many of the country's warring factions would be travelling to Nairobi in early November for talks with Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi.

Mr Moi has undertaken to mediate talks aimed at moving Somalia towards political reconciliation.

President Abdulkassim has made it clear he would like to include faction leaders opposed to him in a new administration for Somalia.

The BBC's correspondent in Mogadishu said 174 of the TNA's 245 members took part in the no-confidence debate on Sunday.

He said the meeting was held under heavy security in a meeting hall in a former police academy in Mogadishu.

A total of 141 supported the no-confidence motion, 29 voted against it, and four abstained.

'Step forward'

One of the ministers who has just lost his job conceded the government had not solved "the problem of Somalia".

Deputy Information Minister Ali Mohamed Arraleh told the BBC he believed the latest development was in fact a huge step forward for the country.

Somalia has been without a central government since 1991

"Because it took place democratically, it is a new page in Somalia's history which teaches our people that the top government officials can be sacked, can be held to account for their responsibilities and if they fail can be kicked out," Mr Arraleh said.

But one member of parliament, Salah Nooh Ismael, said the no-confidence vote was plot masterminded by the president and TNA speaker Abdallah Derrow Issak.

He alleges that money and clan influence were used to force the motion through.

'Mafia war'

Meanwhile, an alliance of warlords that refuses to recognise the TNA said the sacking was driven by disagreements over how to skim off aid money donated by Arab governments.

"It is not a political fight and has nothing to do with the interests of the Somali people," said Hussein Mohamed, chairman of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council.

"This is a simple internal mafia war," he was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

Somalia's political landscape is a complex patchwork of competing clan loyalties and overlapping interests.

President Abdulkassim still only controls pockets of Mogadishu.

After a decade of civil war the country is still struggling to form a government that has support across the whole country.