SOMALIA: President, prime minister return to Nairobi

NAIROBI, 7 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi returned to Nairobi on Friday, after a nine-day tour of various regions of Somalia, a senior official in Gedi's office told IRIN.

The visit was part of the new government's relocation process. Yusuf and Gedi began their "meet-the-people tour" on 24 February and visited the towns of Jowhar, Beletweyn, Garowe, Bosasso, Galkayo and Baidao. The delegation, however, did not visit the capital, Mogadishu.

"The trip was very successful and the delegation was warmly welcomed by enthusiastic crowds wherever they went," Abdurrahman Ali "Malaysia", the special adviser to Gedi, told IRIN.

It underscored the need for the government to relocate to Somalia "and the government intends to do that soon," Ali said.

He said no final decision had been made on where the government would be based, but added that "Mogadishu remains the capital of Somalia". However, if security in Mogadishu remained problematic, "there may be a need for an alterative temporary seat of government".

Various towns were being considered, but "right now, Jowhar [90 km north of Mogadishu] looks like the likely candidate".

In a related development, Yusuf and Gedi's delegation was held up on Friday in the southwestern town of Baidao "for about 25 to 30 minutes" by armed militia, a local journalist, who requested anonymity, told IRIN.

"Their planes were refused permission to take off from Baidoa airport by RRA [Rahanwein Resistance Army] militia," the journalist said. The militia were part of the security detail for the delegation and were demanding money they said was owed to them "for their services".

The planes were later allowed to take off "after a local leader promised to pay whatever was owed them", the journalist said.

Baidoa was the last stop in the delegation's itinerary and is one of the towns the government is considering as "a temporary seat".

The mission met representatives of various sections of the population, including elders, women, the youth, politicians, businessmen and religious leaders.

[ENDS]