Somali MPs sack influential Speaker
Afp, Mogadishu
Somalia lawmakers sacked the influential speaker of parliament yesterday in a move that highlighted the deep divisions within the country's fragile interim administration. A total of 183 MPs gathered at the government's temporary base of Baidoa voted to dismiss Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, who is currently out of the country, while only nine voted against. Aden angered many in Baidoa in November when he launched unauthorised negotiations with the now-defeated Islamists who were then ruling the capital Mogadishu. Since the ouster of the Islamists late last month, the government has been trying to stamp its authority and end the warlordism, which has dogged Somalia for the last 16 years.
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