Friday, November 23, 2007

NEW SOMALI PREMIER 'WANTS TALKS' !

Nur Adde said he wanted to promote reconciliation. Somalia's new prime minister has told the BBC he is willing to hold talks with armed insurgents.
Nur Hassan Hussein was named to replace Ali Mohamed Ghedi, who had refused to negotiate with armed Islamists and other opposition groups.
However, an opposition spokesman has dismissed the appointment of Mr Nur, also known as Nur Adde.
He takes office amid a humanitarian crisis in Somalia, where the UN refugee agency says 1m people are homeless.
Islamist insurgents are battling the Ethiopia-backed government forces in the capital, Mogadishu.
Some 200 000 people have fled their homes in the past two weeks, with aid agencies saying the country has been plunged into an unfolding disaster.
Mr Nur said his government would focus on reconciliation.
HAVE YOUR SAY
The nomination of this new prime minister will change nothing, as long as foreign troops, particularly Ethiopian troops remain inside Somalia
Ali Jama, Adele
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Profile: Nur Adde
The former policeman and head of the Somali Red Crescent organisation is seen as a neutral figure.
But Ahmed Abdallah of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) told the Reuters news agency that the real issue was the presence of pro-government Ethiopian troops in Somalia.
"The issue is not changing one person for another. The [issue] is about a new strategy for the withdrawal of the Ethiopian occupation forces from all of Somalia."
After being appointed, Mr Nur said: "I pledge to do my utmost to perform the difficult obligations in front of me, by respecting the Somali federal charter."
He is from the Hawiye clan, the largest in Mogadishu, many of whom distrust President Abdullahi Yusuf, from the rival Darod group.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

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