SOMALIA: Prime minister returns to Nairobi

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

NAIROBI, 9 May 2005 (IRIN) - Somali Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi returned to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Saturday, after an eight-day tour of Mogadishu, an official in the prime minister's office told IRIN.

"The trip was very successful, and the PM and his delegation [were] warmly welcomed by enthusiastic crowds wherever they went," Abdirahman Dinari, the government spokesman, told IRIN on Monday.

Gedi’s tour, which began on 29 April, was the first time the PM had visited the Somali capital, Mogadishu, since his appointment by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed in December 2004.

However, the tour was marred by an explosion that went off while Gedi was addressing a public rally at a football stadium on 3 May. The blast killed 15 people and injured 50, according to medical sources.

Dinari denied reports that the explosion was intended to harm the prime minister: "The explosion was caused by a grenade, which was accidentally dropped by one of the security detail. It was an accident. The prime minister has already [made a statement] to that effect."

Dinari told IRIN the aim of Gedi’s trip was "to hold discussions with members of his government and MPs who are already in Mogadishu". Gedi urged cabinet members who were in the city in an attempt to stabilise it to "speed up their efforts and concretise it".

According to Dinari, Gedi told his representatives that "there is a need to move beyond words and show results".

Some 80 members of the 275-strong parliament are in Mogadishu in an attempt to stablise it. Among the cabinet ministers are former faction leaders, including Minister of National Security Muhammad Qanyare Afrah, Minister of Commerce Muse Sudi Yalahow, Minister of Housing and Public Works Usman Hasan Ali Atto, and Minister of Religious Affairs Omar Muhammad "Finish".

Dinari said differences with "most MPs and ministers" had been resolved.

The former faction leaders want the government to relocate to Mogadishu. Interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Gedi, however, have said the government cannot function in Mogadishu until the city is pacified and secured.

Dinari said an earlier decision to relocate temporarily to the towns of Jowhar and Baidoa in south-central Somalia "still stands".

Dinari said Gedi had also held discussions with "opinion-makers" in Mogadishu: "He met with women's groups, religious and traditional leaders and other civil-society groups." The meetings, Dinari said, underscored the "people's desire to have a functioning government. Everyone we met indicated their support for the government".

The administration has been unable to relocate from Nairobi to Somalia because of security considerations. It has, however, come under increasing pressure from the Kenyan government and western diplomats to return to Mogadishu.

[ENDS]