Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides)- The President of Somalia Abdullahi Yusuf has appointed Nur “Adde” Hassan Hussein, Prime Minister of the National Transition Government instead of Ali Mohamed Gedi who resigned on 29 October (see Fides 29/10/2007). The appointment was made on 21 November in Baidoa, the see of the parliament, which must now approve it. Like Gedi, the new Premier is a member clan Hawiye (Abgal sub clan). Hussein aged 70, is a former police colonel and at present secretary general of the Somali Crescent.
“I present you a man able to be prime minister and to direct a government ” president Yusuf told his parliament. "I am grateful to have been chosen as the new Prime Minister. I will form a government immediately. My priority will be national security and national reconciliation and to facilitate humanitarian aid ” Hussein said after the appointment.
The necessity of a new credible government able to tackle the crisis is seen by the worsening humanitarian situation. According to the UNHCR there are now one million displaced persons in Somalia. Since February this year about 600,000 people have fled the capital Mogadishu, 200,000 of these were forced to abandon their homes in the last two weeks leaving whole districts of the capital empty. The number of displaced persons this year comes in addition to 400,000 already displaced by earlier fighting.
Figures with regard to displaced persons, updated on the basis of information received from local partners and compiled by UNHCR, show that the (IDPs) in Mogadishu rose from 33,000 to 43,000 in one week. Many have found shelter with family members or friends, sharing overcrowded rooms with many other families. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 22/11/2007 righe 26 parole 350)
