The Somali Prime Minister ‘Ali Muhammad Gedi stepped down after losing out in a power struggle with President ‘Abdallah Yousuf Ahmad. Gedi tendered his letter of resignation on the morning of October 29 and the president duly accepted, according to the IRIN news agency.
The underlying reasons for the decision are not yet known, however, the government has not been able to advance the reconciliation process with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU is a rival administration to the transitional government, with a mandate based on fundamental adherence to Islam. The ICU was briefly in control of the country, until December 2006 when government forces with the backing of Ethiopian troops routed out most of the ICU.
On October 11, 22 ministers signed a letter demanding a vote of no confidence in the government, accusing Gedi of incompetence.
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Despite the initial progress in the fighting against the ICU, the government has not been able to gain full control of the country and especially the capital Mogadishu. The ICU has remained in western parts of the city, and from there launched guerilla attacks.
In recent weeks the city has experienced some of the fiercest fighting, including artillery shelling, between fighters loyal to the ICU and allied Ethiopian-Somali government troops. The battle is now taking place in southern parts of the city.
There are no confirmed numbers of casualties but estimates suggest more than 50 dead over the last couple of days, with bodies lying in the streets as no one has been able to recover them because of sniper fire.
The current struggle is just the last in a long line in a country that has not seen a stable government since the outbreak of the civil war in 1991.
The complexity of the situation is well illustrated by events earlier this week when leaders from the Somali government and local clans forged a reconciliation agreement in the Saudi coastal city, Jedda, under the supervision of Saudi King ‘Abdallah. The king called the pact a “historic achievement” and congratulated the delegations.
Sunday’s deal came on the heels of the formation of an alliance by Islamists and other opposition groups the previous week in Asmara the capital of Eritrea. Eritrea is an arch-rival of Ethiopia, which backs the Somali government.
The Alliance for the Re-Liberation, as the new formation is called, is trying to avoid being branded a radical Islamist organization. It elected a moderate Islamist as its chairman and omitted the word Jihad, or holy war, from its charter.