MERCA, Somalia — — The president of Somalia was hospitalized Tuesday with breathing difficulties and a severe cough, but officials said his condition did not appear life-threatening and he planned to travel to London for further treatment.
President Abdullahi Yusuf, 73, has a history of health problems, including a liver transplant in 1996. Yusuf, a former military leader from northern Somalia who helped overthrow the Siad Barre dictatorship in 1991, checked himself into a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, after abruptly canceling plans to meet U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today in Ethiopia to discuss his nation’s ongoing civil war.
Newly appointed Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein tried to assure the public by telling radio listeners that the president was suffering from “overwork.” Hussein said the medical appointment in London was a previously scheduled checkup. Yusuf was now expected to fly on to London as early as today.
But others said the hospitalization in Nairobi was unexpected, renewing fears about the political viability of Somalia’s fragile transitional government, formed in 2004. Some analysts predict that the government might collapse without Yusuf, who serves as an important bridge between Somalia’s warring clans.
