BAIDOA, Somalia (Agencies)
Amid intensifying violence, Somalia's parliament voted to endorse Nur Hassan Hussein as prime minister on Saturday, in a move many hope will boost the interim government as it fights insurgents.
Hussein, a career public servant, was immediately sworn in as the new premier after 211 out of 212 legislators voted for him in Baidoa, the southern trading town where the Somali parliament sits.
"Two hundred and eleven approved the nomination of Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. Only one lawmaker remained silent, therefore the nomination is approved," said parliamentary speaker Sheikh Adan Madobe.
President Abdullahi Yusuf nominated Hussein, an Italian-trained lawyer and now a senior Somali Red Crescent officer, on Thursday.
Hussein's nomination was announced three weeks after his predecessor quit, caving into pressure over a feud with Yusuf and criticism over a lack of progress in building the transitional government.
Hussein's biggest challenge lies in bringing unity to Somalia where one million people have been uprooted by fighting between Islamist insurgents and government troops, backed by Ethiopian military.
Thousands of civilians have died this year in what the United Nations says is Africa's biggest humanitarian crisis.
On Friday, insurgents fired a barrage of mortars into an Ethiopian army camp in the capital Mogadishu, triggering heavy fighting, residents said.
The clashes shattered a fortnight lull in the city after weeks of heavy fighting that had claimed dozens of lives, mainly of civilians, and displaced at least 200,000 people.
"About 10 mortar shells have landed in and around the pasta factory where the Ethiopian forces are based," Hassan
Abdullahi, a resident of northern Mogadishu Huriwa neighborhood, told AFP.
"This was followed by heavy gunfire between the rival sides."
Another resident Mohamed Haji described the barrage as the heaviest mortar attack he had witnessed since the last round of heavy fighting almost a week ago.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Bloody clan bickering and power struggles that intensified after the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre have undermined numerous bids to stabilize Somalia. |
