Amid Turmoil in Somalia, a Hint of Hope

DEVELOPMENTS

Somalia is becoming increasingly unstable. Fighting between Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops and insurgents has ravaged for months. Roadside bombings, kidnappings and political assassinations regularly occur. Persistent violence has lead to mass exodus and scarcity of food in the war-torn Mogadishu.

According to United Nations refugee agency estimates, the number of displaced people has reached 1 million. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees stated that 600,000 Somalians are thought to have fled from Mogadishu since February 2007 and 200,000 have been displaced in the past two weeks, leaving "entire neighborhoods in the volatile capital empty."On October 29, 2007, Somalia's prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, resigned amid internal and external pressures and a power struggle with the Somali president who appointed him. Nur Hassan Hussein, also known as Nur Adde, was sworn in as the new prime minister on November 24, 2007.