Special Reports: Somali government breaking apart?

update on Top envoys worried over rift in Somali leadership
MOGADISHU, Somalia, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Political fallout in Somalia couldn't come at a worse time, said the country's embattled prime minister.Militants with al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaida, have been waging war on the Somali capital for weeks, killing hundreds of civilians, U.N.-backed peacekeepers and Somali lawmakers in the process.Somali President Sharif Ahmed called for changes to the U.N.-backed transitional government. A motion followed that calls on lawmakers to vote on a no-confidence measure for Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, al-Jazeera reports.Sharmarke, however, said he had no intention of stepping down from his position. "The dispute could not come at a worse time, the current situation in the country cannot withstand such a fallout, during my travel abroad the dispute became even worse but I do not intend to resign, the parliament has not voted to withdraw its confidence," he said.The United Nations warned Tuesday that the Somali government needed to stand united during the looming insurgent threat. Somalia has not had a functioning government since the 1990s and the current transitional authority controls only a small portion of the capital.The transition period for the current Somali government ends in August. U.N. and African Union leaders warned lawmakers in Somali that there was "no time to waste" in deciding on a viable political course.