From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Mar 09 2009 - 06:47:44 EST
Somalia's leader might push for end of African Union mission
Mar 9, 2009 - 8:30:37 PM
MOGADISHU, Somalia Mar 9 (Garowe Online) - Somalia's president traveled from
the capital Mogadishu Sunday on a foreign trip that includes official visits
to three capitals in East Africa, where he might request the withdrawal of
the African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM), Radio Garowe reports.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed held a private meeting with Prime Minister
Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake and parliament Speaker Adan "Madobe" Mohamed
the night before flying out to Nairobi, Kenya.
No official reports emerged from the closed-door meeting at the presidential
palace Villa Somalia, but sources close President Sheikh Sharif's office
said the Somali leader told the Prime Minister and the Speaker that he will
bring up the issue of the continued presence of the AMISOM peacekeeping
force in Mogadishu.
The Somali leader recently declared that he will rule the war-torn Horn of
Africa country under Islamic law, a demand by Islamist rebels who control
much of the country's south-central regions.
The 36-member Cabinet is expected to debate the introduction of Islamic law
as the basis of national law, after which point the Cabinet will formally
submit to the 550-seat Somali Parliament for ratification.
AMISOM
The 4,000-strong AMISOM peacekeeping force in Mogadishu is composed of
soldiers from Uganda and Burundi. The peacekeepers control Mogadishu's
international airport and the main seaport, where they have come under
irregular insurgent attacks.
President Sheikh Sharif is expected to meet with donor countries in Nairobi,
after which point he will travel to Kampala and Bujumbura, the capitals of
Uganda and Burundi, respectively.
The UN-backed Somali National Unity Government, which is composed of secular
and Islamist politicians, has a two-year mandate to govern the country and
prepare for national elections in 2011.
But the government faces many challenges ahead, including Islamist
insurgents who have condemned Sheikh Sharif's government as a puppet of the
West.
Somalia has been mired in 18 years of political anarchy and Sheikh Sharif's
government is the international community's 15th attempt to restore national
order.
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