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Somalia's president rushed to hospital

Written by Jeffrey Gettleman

Tuesday, 04 December 2007

NAIROBI: The president of Somalia was abruptly hospitalized in Kenya on Tuesday, adding a new set of worries to an already very jittery and troubled nation.

There were conflicting reports about how serious his condition was, with the president's aides playing down concerns by saying he just needed "a checkup" while one Western diplomat said that "he's very sick."

The president, Abdullahi Yusuf, is in his 70s and has been hobbled by chronic health problems ever since he received a liver transplant 10 years ago. Yusuf, a former warlord, is one of few figures in Somalia's weak transitional government who has any sort of following, and many Somalis are constantly on edge about his health.

Because doctors said he would be hospitalized for at least another day, Yusuf will miss an important meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is scheduled to arrive in Ethiopia on Wednesday to discuss the rising instability in East Africa, where internal conflicts are raging in Somalia, Ethiopia, Congo and Sudan.

Yusuf's doctor at Nairobi Hospital, where he was admitted Tuesday afternoon, said that x-rays showed the president had a mild chest infection but that he was fine otherwise.

"This is not a big deal," said Mauro Saio, the president's doctor.

Saio said that Yusuf had flown from Somalia to Kenya on Tuesday morning and was planning to continue onward to London for his annual physical. But the president had a bad cough and decided to consult a doctor before making the long trip to Europe, Saio said. Yusuf would probably spend another day or two in the hospital in Kenya, Saio said, before going to England.

Many Somalis questioned the timing and wondered why the president would skip the event with the American secretary of state, who is scheduled to meet several of the region's top leaders, unless it was absolutely necessary.

Muhammad Ali Nur, Somalia's ambassador to Kenya, said that the president had already decided to send Somalia's newly appointed prime minister in his place.

"He's delegating," Mohammed said.

The sudden death or incapacitation of the country's president is about the last thing Somalia needs. Despite more than a year of reshuffling the cabinet and making promises to reconcile with opposition groups, the transitional government remains weak, divided and utterly dependent on the tens of thousands of Ethiopian troops in Somalia.

Ethiopia invaded Somalia last December and installed Yusuf's shaky government in Mogadishu, the capital. Both the United States and Ethiopia considered the Islamist movement that had seized power in Somalia last year to be a regional security threat, and the United States gave Ethiopia prized intelligence to overthrow the Islamists.

But since the Ethiopians have arrived, Somalia, which has been without a functioning central government for 16 years, has plunged deeper into chaos, with near-daily battles between insurgents and the Ethiopians. Poor rains, disrupted markets and one of the world's worst piracy problems have imperiled the country's food supply and put Somalia on the brink of starvation.

Though his support has tended to be limited to members of his clan, Yusuf is at least seen as a figure with some gravitas. He commands one of the largest militias in the country and fought for years against Somalia's previous dictator, Siad Barre. He is well-connected to Ethiopia's military and was chosen in 2004 by Somali politicians to lead the country.

On Tuesday, many Somalis said they were afraid of what might happen if Yusuf became very ill or died.

"The gloomy days of clan war will come back," said Abdulkader Mohammed Abdi, a shopkeeper in Mogadishu. "If Yusuf goes, many politicians and warlords will struggle for the leadership of this country. We know what this will bring."

Somalia’s aging president off to UK for medical treatment

NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 4 (Garowe Online) - A high-level Somali government delegation led by President Abdullahi Yusuf departed from the southwestern city of Baidoa Tuesday en route to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

President Yusuf’s delegation included his recently appointed Prime Minister, Col. Nur “Adde” Hassan Hussein.

A diplomat in Nairobi said President Yusuf met with doctors there and reportedly agreed to travel to London to see his regular doctor for further medical evaluation.

The president, who is said to be in his mid 70s, suffers from fatigue and complications from a past liver transplant.

His medical trip to London postponed a planned trip to Ethiopia, where United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is leading the push towards the completion of an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force to replace Ethiopian troops backing Yusuf's weak government in Somalia.

Instead, Prime Minister Nur Adde will represent the president in talks with U.S. and AU officials in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Nur Adde’s first foreign trip as Somali premier comes at a sensitive time, with parliament divided about ratifying his new Cabinet, many of whose members are old Cabinet ministers.

At least four Cabinet ministers resigned from their posts today, and a fifth deputy minister categorically refused to accept his appointment in front of President Yusuf and Prime Minister Nur Adde, according to parliament sources.

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