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| Africa Horn |
| Deepening Somalia Crisis Sparks International Alarm |
| 2021-12-29 |
| [An Nahar] Somalia's neighbors and Western countries have expressed alarm over an intensifying row between the country's president and prime minister as heavily armed factions patrolled parts of the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, raising fears that the political crisis could erupt into violence.Soldiers loyal to the prime minister took up positions near the presidential palace a day after President Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, better known as Farmajo, announced the suspension of Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble, who accused him of an "attempted coup". Relations between the pair have long been frosty, but the latest developments have sparked concerns for Somalia's stability as the country struggles to hold long-delayed elections and fight a jihadist insurgency. On Tuesday, pro-Roble troops paraded the streets, fuelling fear among Mogadishu residents weary of armed confrontations. "They are not far away from the main security checkpoints of the presidential palace, they are armed with heavy machine guns and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades)," Saido Mumin, a resident, told AFP. Another local, Abdukadir Ahmed, said that although the situation appeared to be calm, he was "really worried" about the potential for violence. International observers have urged both sides to resolve the escalating dispute while some Somali traditional elders and politicians have also sought to calm tempers. "Some politicians and elders (have) started going between the two sides to de-escalate the situation, but these efforts are yet to... bring about a formal resolution", a source in the office of the president told AFP on condition of anonymity. A coalition of opposition presidential candidates on Tuesday urged Farmajo to vacate his office immediately and called for "an urgent investigation and legal charges against Farmajo and anyone who helped him in staging the coup". "This failed coup was an attempt to destroy the constitutional agencies of the country", the coalition said in a statement. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 Time to grant asylum to a whole bunch more Somalians, amirite? |
| Posted by: KBK 2021-12-29 21:26 |
| #6 Minneapolis. |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2021-12-29 20:09 |
| #5 Send in the Omars' Sister-Brother Brigades |
| Posted by: Merrick Ferret 2021-12-29 13:09 |
| #4 No alarm here. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2021-12-29 13:05 |
| #3 Black-hawk Down was a vivid insight into this dumpster fire of a "country". Stay out, for heavens sake, there is nothing there worth one dime of American treasure or one paper-cut of American blood!!!! |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2021-12-29 12:50 |
| #2 Hey, I know! Let's take sides in a conflict that doesn't involve us! Then, let's bomb the other side and cause a catastrophe! We can make the situation much, much worse by intervening, so let's do it! Plus all those bombs and fighter hours aren't free. It will make a mint for the military-industrial complex! It's win-win! |
| Posted by: Sheter the Lesser9291 2021-12-29 11:33 |
| #1 AKA "Business As Usual". |
| Posted by: Raj 2021-12-29 00:09 |