Somali president appoints Somali-American as new prime minister.Professor tapped for key Somali post.All change and no change in Somalia.Somalia - Security Council Meeting,Prime minister to focus on economy, security in Somalia

update All change and no change in Somalia

update Prime minister to focus on economy, security in Somalia

A Somali-American economist has been appointed Somalia's next prime minister by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, who was the deputy prime minister and the minister of planning and International cooperation, replaces Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed Farmajo who resigned over the weekend to comply with the so-called Kampala Accord that extended the government’s mandate for one year.
Speaking at his swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace, Ali said he will do his best to develop a strategy to free Somalia from its protracted civil war. He promised he will take the same path of the former prime minister in paying Somali forces, fighting against corruption and promoting good governance.
Ali is a Harvard University graduate and a former professor of economics at Niagara University in New York. He is originally from the Puntland region in northeastern Somalia.
Summary of Qualifications

New Somali prime minister named
Somalia - Security Council Meeting
Speech by H. E. Abdihakim M. Haji Fiqi, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Somalia/UN Security Council calls for comprehensive peace strategy in Somalia


US-trained economist Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has been named as Somalia’s new prime minister.

His predecessor was sacked as part of a UN deal to end squabbling in the interim government, whose mandate was extended as part of the agreement.But protests erupted in the capital, Mogadishu, last week at the decision to oust Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.The government, backed by African Union troops, is battling Islamist militants and only controls parts of Mogadishu.Somalia has been without an effective central government since the fall of Siad Bare in 1991, as rival factions constantly fight for power.“Somalia is in a difficult situation, there is an economic crisis and insecurity,” Reuters news agency quotes the new prime minister as saying.“I hope I will succeed in overcoming all these problems. I urge the entire government and Somalis to help me achieve this,” said Mr Ali, who previously served as planning minister.Under the deal signed in Uganda earlier this month, the mandates of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and the parliamentary deputies were extended until 20 August 2012, when new elections will be organised.The president and the speaker had been in conflict over what would happen when the current administration’s mandate runs out in August.Mr Aden had said he could not work with the former prime minister and his departure was a condition of the deal.Analysts say al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants, who control large parts of southern and central Somalia, pose the biggest threat to the government.Foreign donors have been pushing the rival factions to resolve their differences, and focus on defeating the Islamist threat.
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Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed Farmajo who resigned over the last weekend

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo) on Sunday announced he was resigning following an agreement ending the troubled country’s transitional administration.

“Considering the interest of the society and in compliance with the Kampala accord, I decided to quit to compromise for the national interest”, Abdullahi Mohamed told reporters in Mogadishu, thanking those who supported him.

Somali PM (left),with the Somali President announces his resignment

Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and parliament leader Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden signed a deal in the Ugandan capital on June 9 extending their terms for a year, pushing back polls due in August.The accord stipulates that the prime minister’s mandate ends within 30 days and for his successor to  be named by the president and approved by parliament in 14 days.Elections for president and speaker of parliament will have to take place prior to August 20, 2012.

Somali PM's Cabinet Ministers attending the Ceremony
Somalia’s transitional government, which was set up in 2004 in Kenya and owes its survival to the international community, has been weakened by infighting between its leaders which has worsened as the end of the mandates approached.Abdullahi Mohamed who was not one of the signatories rejected the deal on Tuesday.“I will respect the wish of the Somali people who want me to stay in office, rather than implementing the Kampala accord,” he had told a press conference in Mogadishu.The president had previously called for the extension, saying Somalia was too unstable for elections as it battles Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist militants.The president and the parliament speaker had two reasons for wanting to oust the prime minister.
Abdullahi Mohamed is an ethnic Ogadeni and they are under pressure from the Puntland region to replace him with a ethnic Darod. Moreover he has gained a degree of popularity and this has riled them.
On June 12, members of the government demanded unanimously that the agreement had to be ratified by parliament, a provision that did not figure in the agreement.The mandate of the fragile transitional institutions theoretically ends August 20, having already been prolonged for two years.
Source:AFP
Professor tapped for key Somali post

Niagara University scholar has taken over from Grand Island man