New PM in Somalia

The new Somali president has international support

Hassan Abshir Farah has been named as Somalia's new prime minister, two weeks after his predecessor lost a vote of no-confidence.

I hope the new government will be able to tackle the problems which the former government was not able to, such as completing the reconciliation process and establishing regional administrations

President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan

His appointment comes as faction leader Hussein Aideed said that he supported President George W Bush's fight against terror.

However, President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan, has said that the US should have waited for proof before listing Somalia's largest company, al-Barakaat, as a "financier of terror".

Somalia has frequently been mentioned as a refuge for supporters of Osama Bin Laden, held responsible by the US for the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.

Popular support

The 56-year-old Mr Farah was minister of water and mineral resources in the previous administration and is a former ambassador to Japan and Germany.

He comes from the north-eastern region of Puntland which has declared its independence from the rest of Somalia, although this is not internationally recognised.

Aideed junior backs Bush junior

Correspondents say that he is believed to have more popular support than his predecessor, Ali Khalif Galaydh.

On appointing him, President Abdulkassim said:

"I hope the new government will be able to tackle the problems which the former government was not able to, such as completing the reconciliation process and establishing regional administrations."

Little influence

A year after being sworn in, the transitional government still has little influence outside the capital, Mogadishu.

We, the SRRC, have sent a message to President Bush that we are against terrorism and we support the international coalition

Hussein Aideed, warlord

Somalia has suffered from 10 years of civil war since Siad Barre was ousted.

Faction leaders, such as Mr Aideed, control most of Somalia's territory. They have formed an umbrella group, opposed to Mr Abdulkassim's rule, the Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council.

'Innocent'

Mr Aideed, whose father Muhammad Farah, was at the centre of a manhunt involving US troops commanded by President Bush's father told the BBC's Focus on Africa:

"We, the SRRC, have sent a message to President Bush that we are against terrorism and we support the international coalition."

He said that more than 300 Somalis belonging to the al-Itihad group were being trained by Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in Pakistan.

But President Abdulkassim, who has strongly backed the US-led fight against terror, says that the Bush administration was too quick to condemn the al-Barakaat company.

"Actually one is innocent unless proved otherwise," he told reporters late on Sunday.

"That is the basis of common law. So I think it would have been better if we had cooperated with law enforcement agencies in the US to investigate thoroughly what is going on, and if there is a case taken it to a court."

Al-Barakaat is used by thousands of Somali ex-patriates to send money to relatives back home.