Sources: Somali ministers paid to resign

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Eleven Somali Cabinet ministers received large sums of money to resign their positions as part of a political attack on the prime minister, sources allege.

The unidentified sources allege the ministers quit Saturday to increase political pressure on Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, who has been locked in a political fight with Somali President Abdullah Yusuf, PRESSTV reported.

The ministers' resignations come the same week Yusuf reinstated Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb, who Hussein had dismissed.

The group of ministers released a statement Friday foreshadowing the mass resignation and identifying Hussein as a main motivator for the decision.

"We cannot remain and take responsibility for what has been done by the prime minister," the ministers said.

PRESSTV said Somalia was thrust into a political and security crisis through a civil war among various factions seeking control of the country's government.