Abdullahi Yusuf “temporarily shifts”

Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland on Tuesday morning is in Burtinle District, some 150 km south of Garowe, the regional capital, a senior official told IRIN. Abdullahi Yusuf had gone there to “brief the people on the overall situation in Puntland”, Isma’il Warsame, spokesman for Abdullahi said, adding that the colonel would return to Galkayo in the evening of the same day. Isma’il told IRIN that “the Puntland seat of government has been temporarily moved from Garowe to Galkayo”. Elders from Abdullahi Yusuf’s Umar Mahmud sub-clan of the Majerten, who had been meeting in Galkayo over the past few days, had come out in support of Abdullahi, Isma’il said. Confusion over the status of Puntland leader Abdullahi Yusuf has continued, after High Court Judge Yusuf Haji Nur invoked the constitution and assumed the powers of president in June. Both leaders have described the other as having “illegitimately” claimed authority.