Secular Somali government in disarray after 29 ministers quit
BAIDOA, Somalia -- Somali leaders struggled to regroup yesterday after a week in which 29 ministers quit the government, with the defectors urging the virtually powerless administration to reconcile with Islamic militants who have seized the capital.
Eleven ministers stepped down Tuesday and yesterday, adding to the 18 who resigned late last week.
For the time being, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi's secular government is secure because he has the support of more than half the 42 remaining ministers. Of those who resigned only 11 were full ministers; the rest were deputy ministers.
Yet his already weak government -- isolated by the success of the hard-line Supreme Islamic Courts Union -- has been further incapacitated by the resignations. In previous months, five other ministers quit or were fired, though for reasons unrelated to the current crisis.
The Islamic group's leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, said in a radio broadcast that the former ministers were welcome in his group.
Others also urged the government to at least form contacts with the Islamic group, whose militia seized most of southern Somalia including the capital, Mogadishu. The transitional government, installed by the United Nations two years ago, is located in Baidoa, one of the only places in the south not in the Islamic group's control.
Ten UN officials met with top officials of the Islamic group, where the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Eric Larouche , said the United Nations wanted to help people displaced by months of fighting in Mogadishu, including providing tents for children to study under when school starts in September.
Abdirahman Janaqaw, the deputy leader of the Islamic courts' executive council, said the United Nations is welcome to reopen its offices in Mogadishu but did not say whether any agreement had been reached.
Infighting, including the wave of recent resignations, has further weakened the government.
The government has watched helplessly in recent months as Islamic militants seized the capital and much of southern Somalia, imposing strict religious courts and raising fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime.
