BELETWEIN, Somalia August 24 2007 - A beleaguered city mayor in Somalia has gained support from local clan elders who have dismissed the swearing-in ceremony of his replacement yesterday as "illegal."

Clan elders in the Hiran regional capital, Beletwein, convened Friday at Hotel Peace to express support for Ahmed Gobey, the former mayor.

Yesterday, Hiran Governor Yusuf Daboged and Ethiopian generals endorsed the appointment of Elmi Saney Qassim as the new mayor of Beletwein.

Qassim was appointed to the post last month by President Abdullahi Yusuf, but former mayor Gobey insists he is the legitimate mayor until the precarious security condition in Beletwein and the region as a whole is sorted out.

The clan elders, who are allied to Gobey, threatened to withdraw their support from the transitional federal government in Mogadishu unless the tense political situation in Hiran is resolved immediately.

In a statement issued later today, the elders questioned the government's logic in appointing an official with the ousted Islamic Courts movement to the post of Beletwein mayor.

The elders accused Mayor Qassim of "burning the Somali flag" at the height of the Islamist rule in south Somalia last year.

Federal officials in Mogadishu declined to comment on the case. The Somali government, backed by Ethiopian troops, is struggling to contain an Islamist-led insurgency that has ravaged the capital since January.

Source: Garowe Online

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