Somalia
Somalia parliament postpones meeting due to security concerns
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Apr 30, 2009 - 5:38:39 PM

MOGADISHU, Somalia Apr 30 (Garowe Online) - Somalia's federal parliament has postponed a meeting in the capital Mogadishu after citing serious security concerns, Radio Garowe reports.

Parliamentary sources said the meeting was supposed to convene on Wednesday at the ex-police transport facility in Mogadishu, which has been renovated to serve as the temporary parliament house.

But Somali lawmakers expressed "serious concerns" about security at the parliament house. Last week, Islamist hardliners targeted the parliament building with mortars and missed their target, killing at least seven people in nearby neighborhoods and injuring dozens.

"It is true that the parliament meeting has been postponed due to security concerns, but there are ongoing efforts to coordinate security," Osman Elmi Boqorre, the deputy Speaker of parliament, told reporters on Thursday.

A parliament source who spoke confidentially with Garowe Online said "parliament subcommittees are holding small conferences and a decision is expected" regarding parliament's next meeting.

The 550-seat Somali parliament relocated to Mogadishu in January for the first time since the Transitional Federal Government was created in 2004.

Somalia, located in the strategic Horn of Africa region, has been mired in armed conflict since the outbreak of civil war in 1991. Islamist hardliners have rejected the Somali interim government, claiming that President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is a puppet of the West.

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Source: Garowe Online