25/12/08 (B479) Si la démission du Premier ministre somalien (bis), qui avait été nommé récemment par le Président du GNT semble confirmé, celle du Président lui-même, bien qu’annoncée hier, fait aujourd’hui l’objet d’articles contradictoires. (7 articles)

_____________________________ 7 – Info en Anglais

Le porte-parole du Président somalien dément les informations selon lesquelles, le Président aurait l’intention de démissionner. // Somali leader quit threat denied

A spokesman for Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has denied media reports he plans to resign on Saturday.

Spokesman Walak Salih told the al-Jazeera TV network that the reports, which quoted Mr Yusuf’s political allies, were "baseless rumours".

Earlier, the man appointed prime minister last week by the president announced his resignation.

Mohamed Mahamud Guled said he was stepping down because his appointment was destabilising the government.

Mr Guled said he had made the decision "so that I am not seen as a stumbling block to the peace process which is going well now".

He was appointed in defiance of Somali MPs, who said the dismissal of his predecessor, Nur Hassan Hussein, two weeks ago, had been illegal.

The president had clashed in recent months with Mr Nur over attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Islamist-led armed opposition.

Earlier this week, East African leaders imposed sanctions on Mr Yusuf.
At a meeting in Addis Ababa, the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (Igad) said it would not recognise the unconstitutional appointment of Mr Guled, and gave its backing to Mr Nur.

The grouping also called on other countries to take similar measures.
The BBC’s East Africa correspondent Karen Allen says it is a sign of just how exasperated the international community has become with a country which has been in the grips of a power struggle for the past 17 years.

‘Consultations’

Splits have paralysed Mr Yusuf’s Western-backed administration at a time when Islamist insurgents appear to be growing stronger by the day.

I want the government to remain in power and differences among its leaders to be sorted out

Earlier, speaking to reporters in the town of Baidoa, Mr Guled said that "after evaluating the current situation", he had decided to resign as prime minister.

"I stood down so that I am not seen as a stumbling block to the peace process which is going on well now," he added.

"I want the government to remain in power and differences among its leaders to be sorted out."

Mr Guled, the former interior minister, said he hoped the president would accept his decision, and that he would remain a member of parliament.

When Mr Yusuf sacked Mr Nur, he said it was because his government had been "paralysed by corruption, inefficiency and treason" and had failed to bring peace.

Nur Hassan Hussein said the president did not have the power to sack him
However, Somalia’s parliament declared the sacking illegal and passed a vote of confidence in Mr Nur by a huge majority the following day.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

Ethiopian troops intervened two years ago to oust Islamists from Mogadishu, and install the transitional government.

But it is now in disarray and only controls parts of the capital and the town of Baidoa after recent advances by different Islamist groups.

On Monday, the African Union agreed to keep its small peacekeeping force in place for a further two months, but did not say how it would cover for the imminent Ethiopian withdrawal.

_____________________________ 6 – Shabelle

Lui aussi de retour du Kenya, le premier Ministre somalien regagne Mogadiscio. // Somali prime minister reaches Mogadishu

Somalia’s Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussien (Nur Adde) arrived in Mogadishu, Radio Shabelle reports on Thursday.

The prime minister from Nairobi, Kenyan Capital arrived at Aden Adde international airport in Mogadishu early on Thursday and he was directly escorted to his house in the presidential palace.

The prime minister met Jendayi Frazer, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs while he was in Nairobi.

He did not give any news to the media, but his arrival comes as legislators in Baidoa told Radio Shabelle that president Abdulahi Yusuf is planning to announce his resignation on Saturday.

Yusuf has been accused by donor countries and regional governments of being an obstacle to U.N.-hosted peace talks.

His rift with Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein has pushed the Western-backed interim government, struggling against Islamist insurgents, to the brink of collapse.

A delegation led by Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the chairman of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia reached in Mogadishu yesterday (Wednesday) and said they came back to Mogadishu to maintain the peace efforts in Somalia.

______________________________ 5 – L’Express avec Reuters

Crise politique au sommet de l’Etat en Somalie

Le président somalien Abdullahi Yusuf a fait savoir mercredi qu’il démissionnerait samedi, quelques heures après l’annonce par le nouveau Premier ministre qu’il renonçait à exercer ses fonctions.

Le président somalien Abdullahi Yusuf (photo) fait savoir qu’il va démissionner samedi, quelques heures après l’annonce par le nouveau Premier ministre qu’il renonçait à exercer ses fonctions. (Reuters/Antony Njuguna)

"Le président a déjà rédigé sa lettre de démission qu’il devrait rendre publique samedi", a déclaré mercredi son porte-parole, Hussein Mohamed Mohamud.

"Il ne m’appartient pas de prédire ou d’expliquer les raisons de sa démission. Le président Yusuf fournira toutes les raisons au moment de son départ", a-t-il ajouté.

Le Premier ministre Mohamed Mohamud Guled, en fonction depuis la semaine dernière, a démissionné mercredi en déclarant que sa nomination risquait de faire éclater un gouvernement déjà très fragile.

Le président Yusuf avait déjà limogé au début du mois le prédécesseur de Guled, Nur Hassan Hussein, à la suite d’un différend centré sur de nouveaux membres du cabinet.

Mais le Parlement s’est prononcé pour la réintégration d’Hussein et des pays voisins ont imposé des sanctions à Yusuf en l’accusant de faire obstacle à la paix.

"Après avoir examiné la situation qui prévaut en Somalie, j’ai décidé de démissionner", a annoncé Guled à la presse à son domicile de Baïdoa.

"J’ai démissionné afin de ne pas être considéré comme un obstacle au processus de paix qui évolue bien à l’heure actuelle", a-t-il ajouté.

La scission affectant le gouvernement somalien appuyé par l’Occident bloque des pourparlers de paix sous l’égide de l’Onu et menace de faire éclater le cabinet au moment où des insurgés islamistes campent à la périphérie de Mogadiscio, la capitale.

FRUSTRATION

La rivalité opposant le chef de l’Etat à Hussein risque, estiment des analystes, d’inciter les milices à s’affronter dans la rue, où les rebelles islamistes se battent contre un contingent éthiopien allié du gouvernement fédéral de transition somalien (TFG) ainsi qu’une force de paix de l’Union africaine.

Hussein, qui est prêt à intégrer les islamistes dans le processus de paix, s’est entretenu le week-end dernier à Djibouti avec Cheikh Charif Ahmed, chef de file de l’opposition islamiste modérée.

Les pays occidentaux et les voisins de la Somalie ont beaucoup investi politiquement dans le TFG et manifestent aujourd’hui leur frustration face à son peu d’efficacité.

Le contingent éthiopien a permis au TFG de rester au pouvoir depuis deux ans mais ses effectifs ne sont plus aujourd’hui que d’environ 3.000 hommes qui, selon Addis-Abeba, seront rapatriés d’ici le mois de janvier.

L’insurrection islamiste contrôle la majeure partie du sud de la Somalie en dehors de Mogadiscio et de Baïdoa, où siège le Parlement.

Les analystes prédisent que le reste du pays tombera sous la coupe des rebelles une fois tous les Ethiopiens partis, à moins que le contingent de l’UA ne soit renforcé.

Version française Philippe Bas-Rabérin,
Pascal Liétout et Jean-loup Fiévet

_______________________________ 4 – En Anglais

Somali President Yusuf Expected to Resign Before Christmas

By Peter Clottey

The embattled President of Somalia’s Transitional Federal government, Abdullahi Yusuf is expected to formally resign before Christmas. President Yusuf is reportedly being pressured by the international community to resign after unilaterally sacking Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, which further threatened the stability of the government.

The Somali parliament, however voted for Hussein to continue working as prime minister. Yusuf is expected to go before parliament to formally tend in his resignation after losing international support following his public feud with Prime Minister Hussein. Abdalla Haji Ali is a Somali member of parliament. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from Baidoa that President Yusuf has no alternative but to resign.

"I think really he (Yusuf) doesn’t have a choice. He came back with very, very negative results, he didn’t really have any breakthroughs in Nairobi and everything is actually the same. You know the impeachment is there and he cannot get along or reconcile with the prime minister and his government. So, he doesn’t have a choice and he has to resign and he has to leave as a matter of fact. That is the proper choice for him," Ali noted.

He said President Yusuf’s leadership style has alienated his support base, leaving him isolated and unable to effectively lead Somalia.

"For one thing he doesn’t have a support in the parliament. And secondly really he doesn’t have the support in the Somali public. At the same time he lost his friends in the IGAD (The Intergovernmental Authority on Development) countries. And he lost the support of the United States and the United Nations. So the president is now in a very isolated situation. He doesn’t have any diplomatic support in the EU (European Union) and any other country. And looking at his internal problems in the country he can no longer stay, and if he stays he doesn’t have the political support," he said.

Ali said there are laid down regulations if the president of the transitional government steps down.

"According to the constitution, the speaker of the parliament would actually fill the position. He would be the interim president for 30 days until a new president is elected. But while he remains in that position there would be people who would be vying for the position to get elected as the president. And there would certainly be competition there," Ali pointed out.

He said President Yusuf’s removal would be a significant blow to the Islamists who he said have been undermining the transitional federal government.

"As a matter of fact, the presence of President Abdullahi Yusuf enables the Islamists to rally support. And as far as President Yusuf leaves the presidency the Islamists will actually lose a lot of support among the people because they were rallying their support on that issue. So, I think the whole political spectrum of Somalia will actually change and the Islamists will lose some support among the people because people will actually see who will be the president, and how he would deal with the serious security matters of Somalia. And I think the cohesion of the transitional federal government would improve," he said.

Meanwhile, some political observers say the transitional government and the international community must deal with Islamists to avoid a security crisis when Ethiopian troops withdraw later this December. They contend that Ethiopia’s withdrawal may offer Somalia a chance for a credible political process.

Neighboring Ethiopia has provided military support for Somalia’s transitional government, which has had Western backing since December 2006. But the Ethiopian troops have been the target of incessant daily attacks by an Islamist insurgency that controls most of the country’s south.

_______________________________ 3 – Romandie News avec AFP

Somalie: démission du Premier ministre nommé par le président

Le Premier ministre de transition somalien, Mohamoud Mohamed Gouled, nommé le 16 décembre par le président malgré l’opposition du Parlement, a annoncé mercredi sa démission à la presse .

"J’ai décidé de démissionner (de mon poste) de Premier ministre de Somalie et j’ai remis ma lette de démission" au président Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a déclaré M. Gouled à Baidoa (250 km au nord-ouest de Mogadiscio), précisant "ne pas vouloir devenir un obstacle" au dialogue entre Somaliens.

"J’espère que le président acceptera ma démission", a-t-il ajouté.

M. Yusuf avait annoncé le 16 décembre avoir désigné un nouveau Premier ministre, Mohamoud Mohamed Gouled, pour remplacer Nur Hassan Hussein pourtant confirmé dans ses fonctions la veille par un vote de confiance massif des parlementaires somaliens.

Le limogeage de M. Hussein avait été condamné par la communauté internationale et jugé illégal par le Parlement.

___________________________________ 2 – Shabelle (En Anglais)

Mardi, revenant du Kenya, le Président somalien s’est rendu, à la tête d’une délégation, à Baïdoa. // President Yusuf Arrives in Baidoa

Delegation led by Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has reached in Baidoa on Teusday, the seat of the transitional parliament, our correspondent in Baidoa reported.

The Somali president from Nairobi returned to Baidoa for unplanned trip. He was welcomed by some Somali parliamentarians to the airport.

"I have been to Nairobi for the nation’s interests and I am glad that I came back to the country safe and sound," president Yusuf Said.

The security of the town was tightened ahead of the president’s arrival.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer held separate meetings with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein at the airport in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi Monday, although no reports emerged what they had discussed.

The power struggle between the two leaders has heightened concern over Somalia’s future once Ethiopian troops who support the government withdraw by the end of this month as Ethiopia plans.

The African Union Special envoy to Somalia on Monday urged Ethiopia to delay its planned withdrawal from Somalia until further AU troops are deployed in the country but Ethiopia rejected the demand by the AU to delay the withdrawal of the troops from Somalia saying it was an “Irreversible decision.”

IGAD foreign ministers agreed on Sunday to impose immediate sanctions on President Abdulahi Yusuf after they accused him of being an obstacle to the Somali peace process.

____________________________________ 1 – Press TV (En Anglais)

Le Président somalien pourrait démissionner sour la pression des USA. // Somali leader may resign under US pressure

The US has expressed support for ousted Somali premier Nur Hassan Hussein, mounting pressure on President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed to resign.

In a meeting with Yusuf in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, a senior US official Jendayi Frazer expressed Washington’s disapproval of his extensive term in office, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Frazer, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, had earlier met with Nur Hassan Hussein (Nur Adde) voicing the White House’s support for his government, reports say.

Earlier in the month Yusuf ‘unconstitutionally’ replaced Hussein with his own appointee Mohamud Mohamed Guled amid Mogadishu’s ongoing struggle to agree on a new cabinet.

The move left the parliament divided over the issue, with some lawmakers supporting the reinstatement of Hussein and some others favoring the president’s choice.

The division has raised the prospect of the country being ultimately run by two prime ministers and two cabinets – a possibility Frazer has reportedly criticized.

Analysts say Abdullahi Yusuf will finally buckle under the political strain which has been escalated by the Somali insurgents’ growing strength across the violence-hit country.