President to go to Somalia 'soon'

Monday, 1 November, 2004, 16:20 GMT

Somalia's new president will appoint a prime minister soon and is to relocate to Somalia within two months, a government spokesman has told the BBC.

Somali government spokesman Yusuf Baribari told the BBC that President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed's negotiations were going "well".

He said relocation of the government, which is presently based in Nairobi, depended on security in Mogadishu.

There was a flare up in fighting in Somaliland and Puntland last week.

Moving the capital?

On Monday, African Union chairman Alpha Omar Konare called for dialogue between Somaliland and Puntland, which are disputing a border.

Residents in the northern region said the two sides were assembling troops on the weekend.

According to a Somali website, the president has hinted that he may move the capital from Mogadishu due to insecurity.

"Somalia does not consist only of Mogadishu. The country has many other cities and I will take the government to one of them," President Ahmed is quoted as saying by the Midnimo site.

But spokesman Mr Baribari told the BBC 's Focus on Africa programme that Mogadishu "is and always will remain the capital of Somalia".

"It is premature to talk about any other name or any other city," he said.

He said President Ahmed and his cabinet plan to move to Mogadishu in December or January.