Somali president appoints Ghedi as PM

www.chinaview.cn 2004-11-04 03:29:08

NAIROBI, Nov. 3 (Xinhua)net -- Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed took a bold step in the Somali peace process here on Wednesday by appointing the 51 year-old vet Ali Mohammed Ghedi as his prime minister and asked him to form the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia in one month.

"After exhaustive considerations and reading all the CVs of allleading contenders, I nominated Prof. Ali Mohammed Ghedi as prime minister," Yusuf told a news conference in Kenya's capital Nairobi.

The 51 year-old Ghedi, an animal doctor, is an active politician and member of the powerful Hawiye clan, one of the fourmajor clans in Somalia.

"I wish to ask him to form a government of his choice within the time allocated in the constitution which is one month," Yusuf said.

Analysts here say the appointment is likely to be a delicate balancing act of clan and regional interests in the Horn of African country.

However, the newly appointed Somali prime minister pledged reconciliation during the news conference.

"I have accepted my appointment and pledge to form a governmentof reconciliation and reconstruction which will restore good relations in the region and I urge my fellow Somalis to support meas I embark on the task of building Somalia," Ghedi said.

He said within 30 days, he would form a new government which hehopes would cover the entire country.

"In that period, I hope to engage in full consultations with the president, speakers, members of parliament and all the stakeholders," he said.

Meanwhile, he said the main challenge facing his administrationwould be to build the public service and mechanism for public policy in the country.

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991 when the regime of Muhammad Siad Barre was toppled, following which the country plunged into anarchy and factional violence. Conflict and famine have killed hundreds of thousands of people since then.

Under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, which groups Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Somalia, Somali National Reconciliation Conference began in October 2002 in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, and was moved to Nairobi in February 2003.

As a result of the conference, Somali Transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was inaugurated on Oct. 14 in Nairobi. Enditem