December 15, 2008	Monday	Zilhaj 16, 1429

BAIDOA (Somalia), Dec 14: Somalia’s President Abdullahi Yusuf sacked his prime minister on Sunday after they disagreed on a new cabinet demanded by donors, throwing his western-backed interim government into disarray.

Hassan Hussein Nur Adde was the second premier fired by Yusuf and had been in the job for only about a year. The fragile administration is fighting Islamist rebels who control the south and are camped on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

Yusuf told legislators and journalists in Baidoa, the central town where parliament sits, that he would appoint Hussein’s replacement within three days.

“When I ordered the prime minister to establish cabinet ministers ... he rejected (it). The required time is expired now ... This decree is effective from today,” Yusuf said.

The two men had disagreed over the composition of a new cabinet for the Horn of Africa nation, which had been called for by donor countries and east African regional leaders.

The pair also differed on the direction of UN-hosted peace talks in Djibouti, which aimed to get the government to share power with moderate Islamist opposition figures.

Hussein said the president had usurped the power of the country’s parliament and constitution by sacking him.

“The president has no mandate to dismiss me unless parliament votes against me,” Hussein told a news conference in Baidoa, hours after Yusuf fired him.

“He has taken the parliament’s power in his hands and violated our constitution,” he said.—Reuters