<p>Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed replaces Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, who had a long-running feud with the president and resigned last month.<br /><br />A statement from the Somali government said that Mohamed is a former Somali diplomat, though it did not provide further details. The statement said Mohamed is an "educator who specialises in leadership skills, project management and conflict resolution."<br /><br />Mohamed has a master's degree in political science, it said. Mohamed will be asked to name a Cabinet within one month. Mark Bowden, a top UN official with oversight of Somalia, said Mohamed's Cabinet is expected to be smaller than the bloated group of politicians that Sharmarke had control over.<br /><br />Among officials in Sharmarke's Cabinet was a minister of tourism in a violence-plagued country that sees only a handful of tourists each year.<br /><br />Somalia's Transitional Federal Government controls only a few blocks of Mogadishu and is generally seen as corrupt, weak and ineffective. The government has accomplished little since its inception in 2004.<br /><br />Somalia hasn't had a fully functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the president. The US last month announced a new, dual track approach to Somalia that will see continued American support of the transitional government but also new, direct support of other groups and regions in Somalia.<br /><br />The new approach includes increased support to the semiautonomous Somali regions of Somaliland and Puntland.<br /></p>
<p>Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed replaces Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, who had a long-running feud with the president and resigned last month.<br /><br />A statement from the Somali government said that Mohamed is a former Somali diplomat, though it did not provide further details. The statement said Mohamed is an "educator who specialises in leadership skills, project management and conflict resolution."<br /><br />Mohamed has a master's degree in political science, it said. Mohamed will be asked to name a Cabinet within one month. Mark Bowden, a top UN official with oversight of Somalia, said Mohamed's Cabinet is expected to be smaller than the bloated group of politicians that Sharmarke had control over.<br /><br />Among officials in Sharmarke's Cabinet was a minister of tourism in a violence-plagued country that sees only a handful of tourists each year.<br /><br />Somalia's Transitional Federal Government controls only a few blocks of Mogadishu and is generally seen as corrupt, weak and ineffective. The government has accomplished little since its inception in 2004.<br /><br />Somalia hasn't had a fully functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the president. The US last month announced a new, dual track approach to Somalia that will see continued American support of the transitional government but also new, direct support of other groups and regions in Somalia.<br /><br />The new approach includes increased support to the semiautonomous Somali regions of Somaliland and Puntland.<br /></p>