MOGADISHU, Somalia
Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (pictured) said on Wednesday he would drop an attempt to extend his term by two years, bowing to domestic and international pressure after clashes in the capital Mogadishu split security forces along clan lines.
Hours
earlier, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble had denounced the proposed term
extension and called for preparations for a new presidential election.
The
president's term expired in February, but the country failed to hold elections
as planned. Earlier this month, the lower house of parliament voted to extend
Mohamed's four-year term by another two years. The Senate rejected the move,
provoking a political crisis.
Commanders
in both the police and the military had defected to the opposition, and rival
factions of the security forces had fortified positions in central Mogadishu,
raising fears of clashes in the heart of the city, and a security vacuum in the
surrounding areas that could be exploited by al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab
insurgents.
In a
televised statement in the early hours of Wednesday, the president said he
commended the efforts of the prime minister and other political leaders and
welcomed the statements they issued calling for elections to be held without
further delay. He also called for urgent discussions with the signatories to an
agreement signed last September on the conduct of the elections.
The
opposition, who had called on the president to resign, did not immediately
respond. The president did not discuss the opposition in his speech but did
denounce unnamed "individuals and foreign entities who have no aim other
than to destabilize the country."
The
heads of two regional states who had been staunch allies of the president had
also rejected on Tuesday the proposed two-year extension of Mohamed's term.
Those leaders said in statements immediately after the president's speech that
they welcomed his announcement.
Mohamed's
attempt to extend his term had also angered foreign donors who backed his
government, hoping it would help bring stability and quash the al-Qaida-linked
al-Shabab insurgency. But the proposed extension pitted factions in the
security forces against each other.
The
U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu tweeted support for the prime minister and the two
state presidents after they issued their statement.
This
week, opposition forces abandoned positions in the countryside as they headed
for a showdown in the capital, allowing al-Shabab to take over at least one
town.
Forces
loyal to the opposition hold important parts of the city and clashed with
government forces over the weekend, fueling worries the country could return to
all-out war.
The
unrest is the second bout of violence in Mogadishu over an extension to
Mohamed's term. Continued clashes could further splinter Somali security forces
along ethnic lines, said the International Crisis Group, a think tank.
"Somalia is teetering on the brink of a major breakdown once again," it said in a briefing published on Tuesday.
Mohamed
is Darod, one of Somalia's major clans. Most of the Somali military in the
capital are Hawiye, another large clan. Most of the opposition leaders are
Hawiye.
Earlier
on Tuesday, Turkish-trained Haramcad ("Cheetah") police forces raided
the independent Mustaqbal Radio station, owned by a Hawiye businessman, and
confiscated equipment. Somalia's fledgling armed forces are drawn from clan
militias who have often battled each other for power and resources.
Internal
Security Minister Hassan Hundubey Jimale told a news conference that government
forces had been restrained to avoid harming civilians. He also said, without
providing evidence, that "thieves" were breaking into houses and
killing people.
The
African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, the United Nations mission
there, and a dozen other mainly African and Western nations condemned the
outbreak of violence and urged restraint.
"We
are alarmed especially by the emerging fragmentation of the Somali National
Army (SNA) along clan lines," a joint statement said.
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