The speaker of Somali's interim parliament, Abdallah Derow Isaak, has declared himself the new president of Somalia.
| "Awright, you guys! I'm takin' over here..." |
A day after throwing a chair at his deputy in a hotel in the Kenyan capital, Mr Isaak told a news conference that his government had impeached the incumbent president, Abdulkassim Salat Hassan.
| "Yep. He's toast. We just threw him out. Never liked him anyway." |
Somalia has been without an effective central government since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. A transitional national government (TNG) was set up 2000 but only controls part of the capital, Mogadishu. This latest announcement will do little to boost the credibility of the TNG as a united force at the ongoing Somali peace talks in Nairobi.
| "Somalia? A laughingstock? How can you say that? I've seen strong men weep at the very mention of Somalia!" |
Mr Isaak said that he would head the TNG until a new president is appointed, although his claim is unlikely to be taken seriously by most Somalis.
| "Him? Why should he be in charge? Why can't I be in charge?" |
The BBC's Yusuf Hassan, who attended the news conference, says that many delegates regard Mr Isaak's action as unconstitutional. The delegates maintain that it is only the Somali supreme court that has powers to declare a new president. The declaration by Mr Isaak was made just one day after he was involved in a fight with his deputy, Mohamed Abdi Yusuf, at a Nairobi hotel.
| All the best presidents get in fist fights with their staffs now and then. Nothin' to worry about... |
Mr Isaak, who was chairing a meeting of the TNG delegates, threw a chair at Mr Bashir following a disagreement. However, Mr Abshir was not injured.
In January this year, a Somali professor, Mohammed Abdi Gandhi, had his arm broken by thugs hired by warlords at an earlier round of the peace talks in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret. |