Garowe, Somalia, 28 February 2008 - Interim Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf assured the country's lawmakers Thursday that there is "no dispute" with Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein.

"We do have differences in opinion," President Yusuf admitted at parliament hall in Baidoa, but he dismissed media reports that a rift has developed between him and the Prime Minister.

The Somali leaders have publicly expressed their differences in approaching the sensitive issue of national reconciliation, which Prime Minister Nur Adde says is one of his top priorities.

But President Yusuf has adamantly refused to talk with "extremist groups" waging a guerrilla war to uproot his Ethiopian-backed interim government.

Speaking to lawmakers today, Prime Minister Nur Adde maintained that he will talk with the opposition in the interests of securing permanent peace in the war-torn Horn of Africa country.

The United Nations' envoy to Somalia, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, also addressed Somali parliamentarians after holding private talks with the President and Prime Minister.

Mr. Abdallah urged Somali lawmakers to form a "united front" in working for the Somali people and country. He said the Somali people can bring peace to their own country because of their shared religion, ethnicity, culture and language.

Both President Yusuf and Prime Minister Nur Adde returned to the capital Mogadishu today, where an Ethiopian army hit a landmine planted by insurgents.

No one was wounded, but the truck burned and witnesses reported seeing smoke.

Source: Garowe Online