Ethiopian soldiers halt Somalia Cabinet meeting

[Armchair Politician]

BAIDOA, Somalia Oct 18 (Garowe Online) - Ethiopian military officers in the Somali town of Baidoa ordered local police to stop a meeting of Cabinet ministers who have expressed their opposition to the administration of Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi.

 

Some 22 Somali Cabinet ministers were supposed to hold a meeting in Baidoa Thursday, but the meeting was shut down prematurely by police, sources said.

 

The order to stop the meeting came from Ethiopian commanders, government sources in Baidoa said.

 

"They [Ethiopians] said the Cabinet cannot meet without [Prime Minister] Gedi present," said a local security source familiar with the incident.

 

The 22 Somali government ministers issued a statement last week threatening to resign if Premier Gedi refuses to appear in front of parliament and face a vote of confidence motion, a move many believe is supported by President Abdullahi Yusuf.

 

Prime Minister Gedi flew to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa yesterday to hold talks with senior Ethiopian and African Union officials.

 

Somalia's interim parliament postponed debate over Gedi's future until Saturday, when the prime minister is supposed to return.

 

Premier Gedi, who has refused pressures to resign, told Mogadishu-based radio earlier this week that there can be no Cabinet meeting without him as chair.

 

Ethiopian troops deployed in Somalia late last year to install Gedi's interim government in Mogadishu, until then controlled by the Islamic Courts movement.

 

Source: Garowe Online