Newly appointed mayor for Mogadishu Abdirahman Omar Osman is seen at a past event in Mogadishu, Somalia in this picture taken October 17, 2017. Picture taken October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi sacked the mayor of the capital Mogadishu and appointed his information minister to replace him on Sunday.

The president, in a decree, named Abdirahman Omar Osman as the new mayor, replacing Taabit Abdi Mohamed. The president’s office did not give a reason for Mohamed’s dismissal.

Local media reported on Saturday that Mohamed and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire did not get on, but it was unclear whether that was the reason for Mohamed’s removal from the post.

“After deliberation with the prime minister and interior minister, the Somali president appointed Abdirahman Omar Osman as the new mayor,” a statement on the Somali government website said.

Mogadishu residents said security forces had entered the mayor’s office on Saturday night and took control of it. They also closed most roads in the city and they were still blocked on Sunday.

The information minister could not be immediately reached for comment.

Somalia has been mired by security problems since 1991 when war lords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Backed by the African Union force AMISOM, the government is struggling to defeat an Islamist insurgency by the al Shabaab group.

Al Shabaab wants to topple the government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of sharia law. </s> The president, in a decree, named Abdirahman Omar Osman as the new mayor, replacing Taabit Abdi Mohamed. The president’s office did not give a reason for Mohamed’s dismissal.

Local media reported on Saturday that Mohamed and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire did not get on, but it was unclear whether that was the reason for Mohamed’s removal from the post.

“After deliberation with the prime minister and interior minister, the Somali president appointed Abdirahman Omar Osman as the new mayor,” a statement on the Somali government website said.

Mogadishu residents said security forces had entered the mayor’s office on Saturday night and took control of it. They also closed most roads in the city and they were still blocked on Sunday.

The information minister could not be immediately reached for comment.

Somalia has been mired by security problems since 1991 when war lords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Backed by the African Union force AMISOM, the government is struggling to defeat an Islamist insurgency by the al Shabaab group.

Al Shabaab wants to topple the government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of sharia law. </s> Somalia's president fired the mayor of the capital Mogadishu on Sunday, in an apparent bid to defuse moves towards greater autonomy for the city.

Osman replaces Thabit Abdi Mohamed who has served just nine months in office.

Immediately after the mayor's firing, government security forces were deployed across Mogadishu to forestall any potential protest against the move.

Earlier, Mohamed's supporters in the city council had nominated him to head an autonomous Banadir administration, hoping to secure for the city and surrounding area equal status to Somalia's six regional states, which have their own presidents and enjoy a greater degree of autonomy.

The central government is opposed to any such efforts.

The row started earlier this month when the mayor called for a conference to discuss the future status of Banadir region, against the will of the president, who is better known by his nickname Farmajo. </s> The central government is opposed to efforts to give Mogadishu more autonomy. — Reuters picMOGADISHU, Jan 21 — Somalia’s president fired the mayor of the capital Mogadishu today, in an apparent bid to defuse moves towards greater autonomy for the city.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed named current information minister Abdirahman Omar Osman to the post of Mogadishu mayor and governor of the Banadir administration, the region that includes the city, according to a statement from his office.

Osman replaces Thabit Abdi Mohamed who has served just nine months in office.

Immediately after the mayor’s firing, government security forces were deployed across Mogadishu to forestall any potential protest against the move.

Earlier, Mohamed’s supporters in the city council had nominated him to head an autonomous Banadir administration, hoping to secure for the city and surrounding area equal status to Somalia’s six regional states, which have their own presidents and enjoy a greater degree of autonomy.

The central government is opposed to any such efforts.

The row started earlier this month when the mayor called for a conference to discuss the future status of Banadir region, against the will of the president, who is better known by his nickname Farmajo. — AFP </s> The mayor of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has died of wounds sustained in a suicide bomb attack on his office, Somali government officials said on Thursday. He died in Qatar, where he had gone for treatment after the attack.

Abdirahman Omar Osman was a naturalised Briton who returned to Somalia to help rebuild the war-torn country after serving as a councillor for the British Labour Party.

He sustained serious injuries when a suicide bomber from the al-Shabaab militant group struck while a meeting was being held at the municipal government headquarters last week, killing six senior local government officials.

Officials said the mayor had been airlifted to Qatar for treatment along with nine others.

“The Mogadishu mayor has died today in Qatar. May Allah rest his soul. The other injured ones are still being treated there in Qatar,” Saleh Omar Hassan, the spokesman for Mogadishu local government, told Reuters.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared three days of mourning for the mayor, ordering that flags be flown at half-mast.

Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group al-Shabaab, which aims to topple Somalia’s UN-backed government, has carried out several attacks against government and civilian targets.

Osman had previously served as Somalia’s information minister, a post he had been appointed to in 2010. He became mayor of Mogadishu last year. – Reuters </s> Mogadishu mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman was airlifted with severe wounds to Doha after a female suicide bomber managed to elude security checks and enter the mayor's office on July 24, killing six people and wounding Osman.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed at the time by al-Shabab jihadists suspected to have been planning to kill an American who is the new United Nations envoy to Somalia.

UN envoy James Swan had left Osman's office shortly before the detonation, which happened within meters of Osman and his staff.

Read more: living in Mogadishu despite al-Shabab threats

"The Mogadishu mayor has died today in Qatar. May Allah rest his soul. The other injured ones are still being treated there in Qatar," Saleh Omar Hassan, the spokesman for Mogadishu's local government, told Reuters.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared three days of mourning for the mayor, ordering that flags be flown at half-mast.

Condolences also included a US mission tweet, describing Osman as a "tireless advocate for the people of Mogadishu and all Somalis."

Britain's ambassador to Somalia, Ben Fender, using Osman's nickname, Yarisow ("young engineer"), wrote in a tweet: "We will join hands to finish the work you started."

Osman fled a civil war in Somalia in 1991 for Britain, where he earned an engineering degree and became a Labour Party councilor in London.

He returned to an uncertain future around 2010 and served the first of two stints as Somalia's information minister.

Osman struggled to keep the electric generator at Radio Mogadishu running, despite it being targeted by al-Shabab, British communications consultant Richard Bailey told Reuters last month.

He was appointed mayor of Somali in 2018 and set about reconstructing Mogadishu's rubble-strewn streets.

Osman introduced more measures to intercept potential car bombs and tried to find land, shelter and jobs for those fleeing the conflict, Fender also told Reuters.

Days before the assault on the mayor's office, a car bomb detonated at a checkpoint near Somalia's international airport, killing 17 people and wounding more than than two dozen others.

Al-Shabab was evicted from Mogadishu by African Union and Somali transitional government forces in 2011.

The militia still controls parts of Somalia's southern and central regions and has often targeted high-profile locations and people in Mogadishu.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> Mogadishu mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman (seen here 3rd L at a ceremony) has died from wounds sustained in a July 24 attack on his office (AFP Photo/Abdirazak Hussein FARAH)

Mogadishu (AFP) - The mayor of Somalia's capital Mogadishu has died of wounds sustained in a militant bombing attack on his office last month, the government said on Thursday.

Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman died while doctors were treating his wounds at a hospital in Doha, a spokesman for the Somali president's office said.

Six people were killed and Osman was seriously wounded in the July 24 attack on a government building claimed by Al-Shabaab jihadists to have been targeting a UN envoy.

Abdinur Mohamed Ahmed, a spokesman for the president, said the mayor's death would "unite us" in the fight against the jihadists.

"We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the Mogadishu mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, and we share our grief regarding this painful death with the entire Somali public," he said in a statement.

The mayor and several others badly injured in the suicide attack by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked militant outfit, were airlifted to Qatar for treatment.

The bombing occurred just hours after UN Special Representative for Somalia James Swan had been visiting the mayor.

Al-Shabaab were chased out of Mogadishu in 2011 but the capital is still hit regularly by the militants who have fought for more than a decade to topple the Western-backed Somali government.

Just days before the assault on the mayor's office a car bomb detonated at a checkpoint near Somalia's international airport, killing 17 people and wounding more than two dozen others. </s> NAIROBI, Kenya—Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a former Somali prime minister and dual Somalia-U.S. citizen, was elected president of Somalia Wednesday after two rounds of voting by the country’s newly selected parliament.

The outgoing president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, conceded defeat, in a sign that the war-ravaged nation can hope for a smooth transition of power.

Celebratory gunfire rang around the capital Mogadishu, which had... </s> Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman died while doctors were treating his wounds at a hospital in Doha, says a spokesman for the Somali president's office

KILLED. The mayor of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, Abdirahman Omar Osman, has died of wounds sustained in a militant bombing attack on his office last month, the government said on August 1, 2019. File photo by Stuart Price/Au-un Ist Photo/AFP

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The mayor of Somalia's capital Mogadishu has died of wounds sustained in a militant bombing attack on his office last month, the government said on Thursday, August 1.

Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman died while doctors were treating his wounds at a hospital in Doha, a spokesman for the Somali president's office said.

Six people were killed and Osman was seriously wounded in the July 24 attack on a government building claimed by Al-Shabaab jihadists to have been targeting a UN envoy.

Abdinur Mohamed Ahmed, a spokesman for the president, said the mayor's death would "unite us" in the fight against the jihadists.

"We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the Mogadishu mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, and we share our grief regarding this painful death with the entire Somali public," he said in a statement.

The mayor and several others badly injured in the suicide attack by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked militant outfit, were airlifted to Qatar for treatment.

The bombing occurred just hours after UN Special Representative for Somalia James Swan had been visiting the mayor.

Al-Shabaab were chased out of Mogadishu in 2011 but the capital is still hit regularly by the militants who have fought for more than a decade to topple the Western-backed Somali government.

Just days before the assault on the mayor's office a car bomb detonated at a checkpoint near Somalia's international airport, killing 17 people and wounding more than two dozen others. – Rappler.com
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed fires Taabit Abdi Mohamed as mayor of Mogadishu and replaces him with his information minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman.