Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, leader of Puntland in northeast Somalia, was flown to Nairobi,
Kenya this week for undisclosed medical treatment, diplomatic sources told IRIN
on Wednesday. The
sources said it was understood he had been admitted to hospital for abdominal
treatment, but gave no further details. They
also stressed that they did not suspect any other motive for his hospitalisation
stemming from his widely reported opposition to President Abdiqasim Salad Hasan
and the newly elected Transitional National Assembly (TNA) whose 245 members were
voted into office at the end of peace talks last month hosted in neighbouring
Djibouti. Meanwhile,
the sources said they could not confirm or deny news reports that three Somali
faction leaders, also opposed to new interim authority, had also arrived in Nairobi
on Tuesday. AFP,
quoting aides to Husayn Aydid, Uthman Ato and Muhammad Qanyareh Afrah, said they
had arrived for talks with Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad. On
Sunday, Aydid, Ato and two other faction leaders called on the international community
to reject the newly elected interim authority.
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