By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
NAIROBI (New York Times) — The president of Somalia was abruptly hospitalized in Kenya on Tuesday, adding a new set of worries to an already very jittery and troubled nation.
There were conflicting reports about how serious his condition was, with the president’s aides playing down concerns by saying he just needed ``a checkup” while one Western diplomat said ``he’s very sick.”
The president, Abdullahi Yusuf, is in his 70s and has been hobbled by chronic health problems ever since he received a liver transplant 10 years ago. Mr. Yusuf, a former warlord, is one of few figures in Somalia’s weak transitional government who has any sort of following, and many Somalis are constantly on edge about his health.
Because doctors said he will be hospitalized for at least another day, Mr. Yusuf will miss an important meeting with Secretary of State Condeelezza Rice, who is scheduled to arrive in Ethiopia on Wednesday to discuss the rising instability in East Africa, where internal conflicts are raging in Somalia, Ethiopia, Congo and Sudan.
Dr. Saio said that Mr. Yusuf had flown from Somalia to Kenya on Tuesday morning and was planning to continue onward to London for his annual physical. But the president had a bad cough and decided to consult a doctor before making the long trip to Europe, Dr. Saio said. Mr. Yusuf would probably spend another day or two in the hospital in Kenya, Dr. Saio said, before going to England.
Many Somalis questioned the timing and wondered why the president would skip the event with the American secretary of state, who is scheduled to meet several of the region’s top leaders, unless it was absolutely necessary.
Muhammad Ali Nur, Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya, said that the president had already decided to send Somalia’s newly-appointed prime minister in his place.``He’s delegating,” Mr. Mohammed said.
The sudden death or incapacitation of the country’s president is about the last thing Somalia needs. Despite more than a year of reshuffling the cabinet and making promises to reconcile with opposition groups, the transitional government remains weak, divided and utterly dependent on the tens of thousands of Ethiopian troops in Somalia.
Ethiopia invaded Somalia last December and installed Mr. Yusuf’s shaky government in Mogadishu, the capital. Both the United States and Ethiopia considered the Islamist movement that had seized power in Somalia last year to be a regional security threat, and the United States gave Ethiopia prized intelligence to overthrow the Islamists.
But since the Ethiopians have arrived, Somalia, which has been without a functioning central government for 16 years, has plunged deeper into chaos, with near-daily battles between insurgents and the Ethiopians. Poor rains, disrupted markets and one of the world’s worst piracy problems have imperiled the country’s food supply and put Somalia on the brink of starvation.
Though his support tended to be limited to members of his clan, Mr. Yusuf is at least seen as a figure with some gravitas. He commands one of the largest militias in the country and fought for years against Somalia’s previous dictator, Siad Barre. He is well-connected to Ethiopia’s military and was chosen in 2004 by Somali politicians to lead the country.
On Tuesday, many Somalis said they were afraid of what might happen if Mr. Yusuf became very ill or died. ``The gloomy days of clan war will come back,” said Abdulkader Mohammed Abdi, a shopkeeper in Mogadishu. ``If Yusuf goes, many politicians and warlords will struggle for the leadership of this country. We know what this will bring.”