National Security Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled has announced his resignation Saturday night
Hiiraan Online
Saturday, May, 24, 2014
Mogadishu (HOL) -- Somalia's powerful National Security Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled has announced his resignation Saturday night, just hours after Al-Qaeda linked militants stormed the parliament building in the capital and killed several soldiers and injured at least two lawmakers.
Guled, who was in office for 20 months, said he quit after "considering the current state of the country. In a two-minute statement he read on the National TV, Guled lauded his past, saying "there is no doubt that a lot has been achieved" during his tenure despite the sorry economic and poltical situations in the country that rendered security forces incapable of dealing with the enemy powers.
Before his decision on Saturday night, Guled faced questions about the rising insecurity in the country that of late appeared to have deteriorated dramatically.
Al-Shabaab miltants have in recent months struck almost every part of the capital, including the presidential palace --the seat of the government -- as well as others, such as courts and UN complex in the city.
Guled praised the heroism of the Somali soldier, Dhame Dahir, who sacrifaced himself to save the lives of lawmakers by barring the suicide car bomb from driving past him.
Guled's resignation came just minutes after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said "urgent changes will take place in the coming hours."
Speaking from South Africa, where he today attended that country's presidential inauguration, President Mohamud said he would cut short his visit by a day and would return to Mogadishu tomorrow morning
He urged the public to trust the country's leadership and no to let such incidents to divide them.
The president said Somalia will outlast the Shabaab, which he liked it to a broom that will finally wear out.
Saturday's brazen attack at parliament building, however, exposed the still fragile security state in the country that is recovering from more than two decades of violence.
HOL English News Desk