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(With statement by the Prime Minister)
by Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar
MOGADISCIO, December 27 (Reuters) – Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Monday announced that he had suspended Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble from his post due to a corruption probe targeting him, an escalation of tensions at the top power linked to the rats of the electoral process.
The head of state, nicknamed Farmajo, accused his head of government of illegally seizing land belonging to the army and of obstructing an investigation by the defense minister. The other ministers continue to exercise their functions, he said.
The Prime Minister declared a few hours later that this suspension was unconstitutional and that it was intended only to derail the current electoral process. He called on all the security forces to take orders only from him and not from the president.
“The measures taken by former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo are an attempted coup against the government and the national constitution,” Roble said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the official SONNA news agency.
The Somali president and prime minister had already mutually accuse Sunday of obstructing the electoral process.
The full results of the legislative elections, which began on November 1 and were due to have their pillar on Saturday, have still not been made official.
The dispute between the two main leaders of the country is perceived by many observers as a threat to the fight against the insurgency of the Islamists of al-Shabaab.
The embassy of the United States and that of the United Kingdom on Monday called the two camps descalade and avoid all violence.
In April, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed unilaterally decided to extend his own presidential mandate for two years, theoretically limited to four years. The factions loyal to both leaders then seized positions in the capital. (Report Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar; French version Jean Terzian, Jean-Stphane Brosse and Dina Kartit, said by Marc Angrand)
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