MOGADISHU, Somalia July 29 (Garowe Online) - Mogadishu's mayor, former warlord Mohamed Dheere, refused to step down Tuesday after Cabinet ministers voted to remove him from power in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein.

Earlier in the day, ten ministers of the 15-member Cabinet met at government headquarters and charged allegations against Mohamed Dheere, who also holds the dual post of Banadir governor.

Mohamed Dheere

Abdi Haji Gobdon, the Prime Minister's spokesman, told a press conference that the mayor was accused of "refusing orders from the transitional federal government," adding that 30 members of the Banadir local government and community leaders called for his replacement.

Mohamed Dheere, whose full name is Mohamed Omar Habeb, told the BBC Somali Service that he "welcomes" the idea of the government replacing him as mayor of the Horn of Africa country's capital, which has been ravaged by nearly 18 years of war.

However, he said, "...the Office of the Prime Minister has the authority to propose, but the final decision remains with the President."

Abdullahi Yusuf, Somalia's interim president, has not commented on today's Cabinet vote ousting Mohamed Dheere from power. President Yusuf hurriedly returned from Puntland to Mogadishu in the afternoon, with Garowe Online insiders linking his trip to today's vote.

Mogadishu's mayor surfaced in national politics after relinquishing his parliament seat in 2004 to Prof. Ali Mohamed Gedi, the country's former Prime Minister.

In 2005, President Yusuf and Premier Gedi led a wing of the transitional government based in Jowhar, the capital of Middle Shabelle region, which was then governed by Mohamed Dheere.

A year later, Mohamed Dheere joined an alliance of Mogadishu warlords who were waging war against the Islamic Courts Union. Jowhar fell nine days after all of Mogadishu came under the control of the Islamist militia.

He has been the mayor of Mogadishu since April 2007, as some of the worst fighting took place in the streets of the Somali capital between Ethiopian-backed government troops and Islamist-led insurgents.

Source: Garowe Online