Thursday, November 22, 2007
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Somalia's president nominated Somali Red Crescent officer Nur Hassan Hussein as prime minister on Thursday, three weeks after his predecessor quit amid pressure over a political deadlock.
"I issued a decree to nominate Nur Hassan Hussein 'Nur Adde' as the new premier," President Abdullahi Yusuf said in Baidoa, the south-central trading town where the Somali parliament sits.
Known as Nur Adde, Hussein served as a colonel on the administrative and financial side of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre's police. He is a lawyer by training and the current vice president of the Somali Red Crescent.
"I pledge that I will do my utmost to perform the difficult obligations in front of me, by respecting the Somali federal charter," Hussein said after his nomination.
The president won a years-long political feud with former Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, effectively forcing the latter to step down on Oct. 29 with a no-confidence vote looming.
Hussein arrived in Baidoa on Tuesday, fuelling widespread speculation that he was the top candidate and on Wednesday he was issued with an essential Somali political accessory -- a retinue of heavily armed militiamen for security. (Reporting by Ahmed Mohamed, Writing by Bryson Hull, Editing by Richard Williams)
Source: Reuters, Nov 22, 2007