Somali president expected to go

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-29  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

SOMALIA'S president will resign today to try to end government infighting before the country's Ethiopian allies leave, a senior ally said yesterday in the latest in a series of conflicting statements on the leader's future.

President Abdullahi Yusuf will address a special session of the country's parliament to announce his retirement from politics, said Abdirashid Sed, a confidant of Yusuf and the most senior figure to comment so far on the president's plans.

"He decided to step down because he does not want to be seen as an obstacle to peace in Somalia," Sed told The Associated Press. "He wants to give a chance to the younger generation."

The announcement came as 19 people died in clashes in a nation that has been ravaged by 18 years of civil war.

The president's position has been in doubt since parliament last week stopped him sacking Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

The political infighting has crippled the Somali government, which came to power two years ago after Ethiopian troops attacked an Islamic administration that had ruled much of the south and the capital for six months.

Yusuf's administration only controls a few pockets of territory in the capital and one other town. Ethiopian allies are due to pull out within days.