Somalia PM names Cabinet, riots in Baidoa
Aug 21, 2006, 19:49

The prime minister of Somalia's interim federal government officially named his new Cabinet on Monday, two weeks after President Abdullahi Yusuf dismissed the old Cabinet.

Professor Ali Muhammad Gedi, the Somali premier, named a 31-member Cabinet, toned down from the 100-plus Cabinet that was dismissed on August 7. The new Cabinet will be presented to the federal parliament for approval.

Notable ministers named in Baidoa include Ismail Mohamud Hurre, the foreign minister; Hussein Aideed, the interior minister; Colonel Barre "Hirale" Adan Shire, the defense minister; and Hassan Mohamed Nur "Shatigadud", the finance minister.

Meanwhile in Baidoa, the government's interim capital, riots broke out outside of the main police station, after militias and police exchanged gunfire for some 30 minutes.

Residents became involved and threw rocks at the police after rumors spread that there were attempts to free a suspect arrested in connection with the July 28 assassination of a Cabinet minister, Abdalla Derow Isaaq, who was shot to death outside of a Baidoa mosque.

No one was killed or wounded during Monday's fighting in Baidoa