Somalia’s president checks into hospital with breathing problems

The president of Somalia was hospitalized Tuesday with breathing difficulties and a severe cough, but officials said that his condition did not appear life-threatening and that he planned to travel to London for further treatment.

President Abdullahi Yusuf, 72, has a history of health problems. He underwent a liver transplant in 1996.

Yusuf, a former military leader from northern Somalia who helped overthrow the dictatorship of Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, checked 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 civil war.

Newly appointed Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein tried to reassure 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 expected to fly to London as early as today.

“His condition is so good, he’s even doing some work,” said Hussein Mohammed, the president’s spokesman.

Important role

But others said the hospitalization in Nairobi was unexpected, which renewed fears about the political viability of Somalia’s fragile transitional government, formed in 2004. Some analysts say that the government might collapse without Yusuf, who serves as an important bridge between Somalia’s warring clans.

“Tensions are rising, but we don’t know how the situation will end,” said parliament Secretary Mohammed Hassan Faqi.

The transitional government is already on shaky ground. Last month, Yusuf named Hussein to replace former Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi, who quit after a long power struggle with Yusuf. The government also has struggled to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the people of Somalia and is battling an insurgency of Islamic extremists and anti-government clans.

“He’s an important piece,” said one Western diplomat who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. “We’re all praying for him.”

The diplomat confirmed that Yusuf had complained about respiratory problems in recent days but had still managed to appear before the parliament Sunday, where new Cabinet appointments were announced.

Possible bronchitis

“We spoke on Sunday, and he was coughing a lot and having trouble breathing,” the diplomat said. “It might be bronchitis.”

Officials at the Somali Embassy in Nairobi declined to comment. But a protocol officer told the Associated Press that Yusuf was suffering from a “severe cold” and was stable and comfortable.

Somalia’s transitional charter stipulates that in the event of the president’s death, the speaker of parliament will oversee the country until lawmakers elect a new leader.

edmund.sanders@latimes.com

Special correspondent Lutfi Sheriff Mohammed in Mogadishu, Somalia, contributed to this report.