Government near to collapse, says Somalia leader | World news | The Guardian

Government near to collapse, says Somalia leader | World news | The Guardian: "Government near to collapse, says Somalia leader

Islamist fighters from the al-Shabab movement taking part in a military drill at a camp in the northern outskirts of Mogadishu

President Abdullahi Yusuf of Somalia has admitted that his government is on the verge of collapse and that Islamist groups now control most of the country.

In a speech to Somali MPs gathered in the Kenyan capital Nairobi at the weekend, Yusuf said that the government only had a presence in the capital Mogadishu and in Baidoa, 'and people are being killed there every day. Islamists have taken over everywhere else.'

His frank admission confirms what is known but seldom publicly acknowledged by those with a stake in Somalia's future, from Ethiopia, whose continued occupation unites the different Islamist groups against a common enemy, to the UN and western countries, which have backed the warlord-heavy government for years.

The latest bout of infighting - Yusuf and his prime minister, Nur Has"
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