Somali tension as mandate ends

PM Abshir Farah has fallen out with his president

The future of Somalia remains highly uncertain on Tuesday as the mandate of the three-year old Transitional National Government (TNG) expires.

President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan announced that his government would not stand down until a new government and parliament were formed.

But Prime Minister Abshir Farah says the TNG will be illegitimate from Wednesday, and accused the president of deliberately trying to make Somali reconciliation talks in Nairobi fail to justify prolonging his stay in office.

The TNG was established on 13 August 2000 after a conference of Somali elders and given a three-year mandate to reconcile the numerous warring factions in Somalia.

Fear

The Somali capital, Mogadishu, is reported to be tense with residents worried about the consequences of the stand-off.

President Salat says he will remain in power

They point out that powerful warlords who control parts of the capital have disagreed with President Hassan and have opted to continue participating at the talks.

The residents say that if a new parallel government is formed in Nairobi then renewed fighting is likely.

The president, who quit the talks on 29 July, accused the peace conference of taking an anti-Islamic direction saying that a transitional constitution being negotiated in Kenya would create a federal state that would divide Somalia.

Row

President Hassan's opponents have accused him of running scared.

"Abdulkassim wants the failure of the peace efforts we are pursuing in Kenya so that he can keep power. He felt he would lose out at this conference," said a spokesman for Prime Minister Farah.

There is no indication as yet of what action may be taken by President Hassan's opponents if he continues to ignore the Nairobi talks.

Over the weekend both the prime minister and the Speaker of parliament, who remain in Nairobi at the talks, were sacked in Mogadishu.

But the sacked prime minister - the TNG's chief negotiator - said the sacking was meaningless as the parliament did not have a quorum when the vote took place.