BAIDOA, Aug 2: Somalia’s interim government unravelled further on Wednesday with the resignation of another four top officials who cited as their reason the prime minister’s reluctance to reach out to a rival Islamist movement.

The departure of four junior ministers brought to 34 the number of senior officials to have left the western-backed but virtually powerless government in less than a week.

“We have resigned because the prime minister has refused reconciliation to go on between the government and the Islamic courts and all the Somalis,” said Hirsi Adan Roble, an assistant minister who quit.

The latest batch of resignations came a day after 12 ministers and assistant ministers also walked out in a move that may ultimately clear the way for the newly powerful Islamists to take ministerial posts, analysts and government sources say.

The Islamists, however, have not indicated whether they are interested in power-sharing.

With Ethiopia sending troops across the border to help the government, according to witnesses, and Eritrea said to be arming the Islamists, diplomats are worried the Somali crisis could become a regional conflict.

The resignations leave Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi looking increasingly vulnerable, although he did survive a no-confidence vote in parliament at the weekend.

Gedi dismissed allegations he was not talking to cabinet ministers, and said the resignations had had little impact.

“It’s not affecting the possibility of the government to run the country,” he told BBC radio, speaking in English.—Reuters