GALKAYO, Somalia Aug 9 (Garowe Online) - A Cabinet minister in Somalia's Puntland regional autonomy announced her resignation on Friday, but declined to give an official reason.

Asha Ghelle, the Women and Family Affairs Minister, resigned from the administration of President Mohamud "Adde" Muse after being in office since 2005.

Inside sources tell Garowe Online that Ms. Ghelle's resignation came after a dispute with the Puntland leader.

Asha Ghelle

On July 29, President Muse issued a decree giving Ms. Ghelle "temporary, full authority" as the President's representative in Mudug region.

In recent months, there have been targeted assassinations and bomb blasts in Galkayo, the capital of Mudug region.

Security sources linked the Puntland leader's decree, which temporarily handed over his constitutional authority over Mudug to the Women and Family Affairs Minister, to President Muse's inability to resolve growing insecurity in Galkayo.

But Ms. Ghelle resigned after Muse interferred with her efforts to change senior officials in Mudug, including the region's treasurer and the mayor of Galkayo.

Muse's intervention reportedly angered Ms. Ghelle, the only female member of the Puntland government, the sources added.

A security committee recently established by traditional elders in Mudug has threatened to resign if the Puntland leadership fails to accept Ms. Ghelle's decisions.

The Ministry of Women and Family Affairs owns a building in Garowe, the capital of Puntland, and regularly pays its employees, according to recent parliamentary hearings on the 2007 budget.

Puntland lawmakers have accused the Ministry of Finance of misusing public funds and failing to pay government employees, a charge denied by Finance Minister Mohamed Gaagaab.

Source: Garowe Online