Somalia's new president appoints prime minister

Published March 16, 2017

Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed speaks at his inauguration ceremony in Mogadishu, Somalia, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. Somalia's new leader, who also holds U.S. citizenship, was inaugurated Wednesday while promising to restore dignity to the troubled Horn of Africa nation but warning it will take another two decades to "fix" the country. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) (The Associated Press)

Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has appointed a political newcomer as the prime minister just before he departed to Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip since he was inaugurated.

Somali-born Norwegian national Hassan Ali Khaire, the former executive Africa of the British energy explorer Soma Oil, was appointed as the new prime minister Thursday morning.

Mohamed, who was inaugurated as president on Wednesday, also holds U.S. citizenship. He was elected earlier this month in a step toward establishing Somalia's first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century.

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