Ethiopia, US Behind Somali PM Resignation: Analyst

Check back with ETP for more news throughout the day

Also:
- Today's Top Stories
- Somalia's President Names New Premier
- INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
____________________

Ken Menkhaus, Somali expert and professor of political science at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.

“This was a long time in coming and what finally prompted the resignation was unquestionably Ethiopian pressure. This was Ethiopia’s game. They were making the decision as to who would stay and who would go in the TFG.

They were trying to manage the long running split between President Abdullahi Yusef and Prime Minister Gedi. And in the end I think they came to understand that Gedi had to be replaced,” he says.

[AUDIO REPORT]

Asked whether United States pressure played any role in the resignation, Menkhaus says, “I suspect there was. In Nairobi, the donor community in general has for quite some time reached the conclusion that the primary obstacle to negotiations toward a more inclusive Transitional Federal Government was Gedi himself. And for an obvious reason. Gedi stood an excellent chance of losing his job if power were shared with the opposition.”(More...)

____________________



Also see:
-VOA REPORT: Delegation's final Public Meeting - AUDIO
-ETN REPORT: Delegation's final Public Meeting - VIDEO
____________________

Today's Top HEADLINES

-Weekend fighting drove 36000 from Somali capital-UN
-Reports of killed Ethiopian soldiers begin to filter through
-Foundation Honors Journalists (U.S. Department of State)
-VIDEO - JOURNALISTS AND PRESS FREEDOM IN ETHIOPIA
-Red Cross repatriates 885 from Ethiopia and Eritrea
-Haile ‘Focused’ On Setting New World Benchmark In Dubai

SOMALIA'S PRESIDENT NAMES NEW PREMIER

Somalia's president named a caretaker prime minister on Tuesday, a day after the outgoing premier lost a power struggle in the government and resigned. Officials said Salim Aliyow Ibrow (Seen here), will temporarily replace Ali Mohamed Gedi.(More...)

INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES

THE DEMOCRATIC TARGET IN TUESDAY’S DEBATE

In an interview last week, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois telegraphed his intention to sharpen his distinctions with Mrs. Clinton. At the same time, though, he said he had no plans to “kneecap the front-runner.”(More...)

-Thinktank accuses Saudi regime over hate literature
-Bomber Strikes Within a Mile of Musharraf
-Russia to file Arctic claim to U.N. this year
-AIDS virus invaded U.S. from Haiti: study




_____________________