Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)

 

Somalia: Government Sacks Military Chief


 

11 June 2008
Posted to the web 11 June 2008

A brief diktat from Somalia's presidential palace in Mogadishu on Tuesday was replaced the commander-in-chief of Somalia's military forces Salah Lif into into another commanding officer.

The spokesman of Somali president Hussein Mohamed Mohamud Aka Hubsired who has read the statement for the reporters has declared that Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has decided to replace Mr. Salah Lif from his army post and appointed General Mohamed Hersi Dhere as the commander of Somalia's military troops.

 

Mr.Dhere becomes the third commander was appointed for the leader of Somali armed forces following Salah lif was appointed after his predecessor General Ali Madobe was sacked.

Somalia's shaky transitional government took over Mogadishu in the last days of 2006 with the help of Ethiopian troops and air power, unseating an Islamic movement that had reigned for six months over most of southern Somalia. Now remnants of the Islamic movement are waging an insurgency.

The Islamists have attacked and taken control of in recent months, three have been provincial capitals. The Islamists typically free prisoners and attack government forces before voluntarily withdrawing.

There are daily skirmishes in Mogadishu, which the government has never fully controlled. Although the government is backed politically by the U.N. and by Ethiopian firepower, many Somalis say it is heavily corrupt and ineffectual.

The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of the Republic of Somalia has had a tumultuous history. It is the most recent attempt to restore national institutions to Somalia after the 1991 downfall of Siad Barre and the following Somali Civil War. The country has been run for more than a decade by tribal factions and warlords.

No comments: