Renegade Speaker revoked of duty

Here's another case of sour grapes by a Somali politician who played his cards wrong and sided with the losing side. He was probably positioning himself to be President if the TNG fell to the Islamists, and now he's stuck overseas and having his staff complain about parlimentary procedures.

==================================================

BAIDOA, Somalia Jan 17 (Garowe Online) - Somali legislators debated and voted on a motion brought up against the interim parliament Speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, who has been a vocal critic of Ethiopian military intervention.

The parliament meet occurred Wednesday in Baidoa, an inland city that still houses the parliament despite the government’s takeover of the Somali capital Mogadishu last month with Ethiopian backing.

MP Omar Qalad read a document highlighting the many charges brought up against Speaker Sharif Hassan, which included treason, being absent from the country for more than 3 months without valid reason, interfering with legislators’ salaries, and supporting the outsted Islamic Courts movement.

A long debate ensured, with lawmakers disagreeing on the method of voting. Some MPs wanted the vote to be by secret ballot while others argued to vote publicly by show of hands.

Of the 192 MPs present at the Baidoa session, 183 raised their hands in favor of removing Sharif Hassan from the post of interim parliament Speaker and 9 MPs voted no.

Osman Elmi Boqorre, the second deputy Speaker, announced the official results at the end of the session. Sharif Hassan met with European Union officials earlier in the week and sources said he is still visiting European countries.

MP Mohamed Abdi Yusuf, a member of Sharif’s delegation in Europe, condemned the vote to remove him from the post of Speaker while he was still absent.

-Garowe Online

African Troops Could Arrive Soon

Several unamed African countries have offered to contribute troops to a Somali peacekeeping force, the leaders of Ethiopia and Kenya have said.

In Somalia, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi named five countries as agreeing to send troops and said he expected them to be in place this month.

Only Uganda has publicly offered to contribute to the proposed 8,000-strong peacekeeping force. Ethiopia wants to pull its soldiers out of Somalia within weeks.

The government is trying to restore order in Mogadishu

They recently helped government forces oust Islamists who controlled much of southern Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu.

In a briefing to parliament, Mr Ghedi named the countries who had agreed to send troops as: Uganda; Nigeria; South Africa; Malawi and Senegal.

Over the weekend, the regional body, Igad, sent envoys to seven African countries, asking them to contribute to a proposed 8,000-strong peacekeeping force.

Somaliland Protests

What is President Yusuf doing? Is he trying to distract Somalis from the Islamist problem? Most Somali's don't support an independent Somaliland. Maybe he is trying to gain favor and unite the rest of Somali on an issue they agree with. It's a calculated risk, but will it work?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BBC News: In Somaliland, large demonstrations have been held after interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf said he views the breakaway region as part of Somalia.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia after the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in 1991, since when the country has been without an effective national government.

For years Somaliland has been campaigning to win support for its claim to be a sovereign state.

And many Somalilanders, who have escaped much of the chaos and violence that have plagued Somalia, are fiercely opposed to any talk of reuniting with their lawless neighbour.