Wednesday, January 17, 2007
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - A top Somali lawmaker closely associated with the recently ousted Islamic movement was voted out as speaker Wednesday by parliament, a move that could undermine reconciliation efforts in the restive country.
Deputy Speaker Osman Ilmi Boqore announced that parliament voted to strip Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden of the speaker's position. Lawmakers cited his public criticism of a proposed African peacekeeping mission that parliament had endorsed and his meetings with Islamic movement leaders without authority from parliament.
newsinisideBoqore, in proceedings broadcast live on HornAfrik Radio from the parliament's seat in Baidoa, said that only nine of the lawmakers present voted against the motion. Voting in favor were 183 lawmakers — 44 more than required — in the 275-member parliament
Aden's actions have been in "total violation of our transitional charter," lawmaker Mohamoud Begos told The Associated Press by phone from Baidoa.
It was not clear if Aden was in Somalia.
Aden had made several freelance peace initiatives with Somalia's Islamic movement before government forces — with key help from Ethiopian troops — ousted them in December from the capital, Mogadishu, and much of southern Somalia.
In Belgium Wednesday, European Union spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tadio expressed disappointment at the Somali parliament's move against Aden, who held meetings with EU officials in Belgium earlier this week.
"We saw him as a someone who could make a bridge with the moderate elements," Altafaj said. "We had encouraged him to go back to Mogadishu to carry out his job and bring together as many political players as possible."
Michael E. Ranneberger, the U.S. ambassador to Kenya, told reporters in the Kenyan capital Wednesday before the vote that Aden was "the kind of person who could pull people together."
The U.S. encourages dialogue in Somalia, including with a key Islamic leader like Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, who is seen as a moderate, Ranneberger said.
"If he (Ahmed) wanted to play a positive role that should be a possibility. He is a recognized moderate," said Ranneberger, whose portfolio includes Somalia.
In the past year, Aden has differed with Yusuf and Gedi over the location of the government and whether peacekeepers were needed. According to Somalia's transitional charter, parliament has to vote on all major government decisions before they can be implemented.
Neighboring Yemen at one point stepped in to mediate between the president and prime minister and the speaker.
On Wednesday, Gedi told parliament that he ruled out peace talks with the Islamic movement and hoped to see the first African peacekeepers in Somalia by month's end.
So far only Uganda has committed to contributing troops and few others have shown enthusiasm for a proposed 8,000-strong African mission to bolster the government's attempt to create law and order.
A peacekeeping mission could face some violence, something that may deter many countries from committing soldiers.
There has been sporadic fighting since the government took over Mogadishu on Dec. 28. Leaders of the Islamic movement have pledged to carry on a guerrilla war as long as Ethiopian troops remain in Somalia.
A U.N. peacekeeping operation in Somalia in the 1990s saw clashes between foreign troops and Somali warlords' fighters, including the notorious downings of two U.S. military Black Hawk helicopters in 1993. The U.S. withdrew from Somalia in 1994, and that was followed a year later by the departure of U.N. peacekeepers.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991 when warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other, reducing this Horn of Africa nation to anarchy and clan-based violence. The Yusuf-Gedi government emerged from regional, U.N.-backed talks in 2004 and has since struggled to assert authority.
Source: AP, Jan 17, 2007