Somalia

The parliamant of Somalia has elected today a moderate Islamist, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed to become Somalias next president. Furthermore they extended the parliament extended the governments mandate by two more years.

Following a power struggle with prime minister Nur Hussein, Somalis president Abdullahi Yusuf resigns. Key element of the disput was whether and if moderate Islamists should be participating in government.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the $213 million pledged to help the emergent Government in Somalia funding its security forces and the peacekeeping forces of the African Union (AU).

Mr. Ban opened the donors' conference in Brussels hosted by the European Union (EU) and under the joint auspices of the UN, the AU, European Union (EU) and the League of Arab States. In January the Security Council had asked the Secretary-General to establish a Trust Fund to support the AU Assistance Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and to assist in the re-establishment, of national security forces.

The conference was attended beside representatives of more than 60 countries by Somalia's president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, along with Javier Solana, EU High Representative; Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States; and Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, UN Special Representative for Somalia.

Members of Islamist hardliner group Al Shabaab in Somalia have shut down an independent radio station called Maandeeq FM in the town of Beled Hawo in the Gedo region, close to the borders of Ethiopia and Kenya.
Al Shabaab is a powerful Islamist faction controling regions in southern Somalia. Maandeeq FM is not the first station to be closed, Al Shabaab has previously shut down independent HornAfrik Radio in Kismayo and Markabley radio station in Bardhere, Gedo region.
Al Shabaab has been put on the terror list by the US government and is accused of ties to Al Qaeda.