Members
of Somalia's new Transitional National Assembly (TNA) are
scheduled to elect a new head of state by the end of the week
heralding in a new era for the war-torn African nation.
Officials
at the Somali peace conference in Arta, Djibouti, where the
assembly is gathered, told IRIN on Wednesday that 245 members
of the assembly were narrowing their choices down from 47
candidates.
Conference
sources said that given the large field of candidates, the
final choice for president would be announced on Friday, and
not on Thursday as had been expected.
They said
this was because legislators were likely to still be deliberating
through the night on Thursday.
In remarks
to journalists, the newly elected TNA speaker, Abdulrahman
Deroow Issak, called on the international community to give
its backing to the new transitional authority and "to join
in the rebuilding of Somalia".
He made
the remarks after being accorded an official protocol reception
by President Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti whose government
has sponsored and financed the three-month Somali peace conference.
Newspapers
in Djibouti said the government had given the new speaker
an official car and provided him with security personnel.
Similar
facilities would be accorded to other senior officials elected
by the TNA, Djibouti newspapers said
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