More MPs quit Somali govt
2006-08-01 10:57
Baidoa - Four more ministers resigned on Tuesday from Somalia's virtually powerless government, the latest blow to an administration that watched helplessly as Islamic militants took over much of the country's south.
Eighteen key members of parliament resigned last week from Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Gedi's government, saying he had failed to pacify this chaotic nation. Somalia had about 200 MPs.
A statement released by the MPs said: "Because of ... the lack of a clear policy, we have decided to resign and join the other former ministers who have already stepped down."
On Sunday, Gedi barely survived a no-confidence vote in parliament.
The administration was formed two years ago with the support of the United Nations to help Somalia emerge from more than a decade of anarchy, but it had no power outside its base in Baidoa, 250km from the capital, Mogadishu.
An Islamic militia had seized the capital and much of southern Somalia, imposing strict religious courts and raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime.
The United States accused the group of harbouring al-Qaeda leaders responsible for deadly bombings at the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
- AP