Liibaan Posted August 18, 2009 Wasaaradda cusub ee Lacagta: Wasiir Eng. Cabdi-raxmaan Omar Osman (Yarisow) The finance portfolio was split in two, Abdirahman Omar Osman, former protocol chief in President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's office, being named treasury minister alongside Finance Minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. PM splits finance portfolio into two positions Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has reshuffled and expanded his cabinet in an attempt to end in-fighting in the face of a long-drawn-out insurgency, officials said on Tuesday. Ali Jama Ahmed and Abdalla Boss Ahmed were named as foreign and defence minister respectively, the same posts as they had held in the former transitional federal government. The finance portfolio was split in two, Abdirahman Omar Osman, former protocol chief in President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's office, being named treasury minister alongside Finance Minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden. The impoverished Horn of Africa nation has been mired in civil war for 18 years, and the government controls only small pockets of the coastal capital Mogadishu. It is fighting groups including al Shabaab, which the United States says is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, with the help of pro-government militia across southern and central regions. The Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca militia, fighting on the government's side, said it had captured the central town of Wabho, a day after it wrested Bulahawa from the militants. "Our forces have taken control of Wabho after a brief fight with al Shabaab," spokesman Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf said. "We shall continue our operation to oust al Shabaab from the country." One senior government official said Sharmarke seemed to have heeded demands from the president's Abgal sub-clan for more influence. Abgal elders held talks with Sharmarke in the Kenyan capital Nairobi last month. Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar was transferred to the water and mineral resources ministry, and Defence Minister Mohamed Abdi Ghandi became transport minister. The new jobs raised the number of cabinet posts to 39. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
