OneWorld.net (U.S.)

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 26 (OneWorld) - Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein signed an agreement here today ending a month-long standoff between the two men that had threatened to unravel the country's fragile transitional government.

Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, foreground, and President Abdullahi Yusuf sign the cooperation agreement. © Nicholas BenequistaThe accord, which comes after 10 days of negotiations, also settles the row over the sacking of the Mogadishu mayor, the incident that sparked the standoff.

"It is a lesson learned for us, and from now on we will avoid any differences," said Hussein, who is expected to face a vote of confidence in parliament today. "Of course, during the government business, differences of ideas will be obvious, but we will try our best that differences arising from day-to-day business will not reach a crisis level and will not jeopardize our fulfillment of our responsibility."

The two leaders have been at loggerheads since July, when the prime minister sacked the mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Omar Habeeb, a close ally of the president. The rift deepened after 11 ministers loyal to President Yusuf resigned over the mayor's dismissal. The prime minister later named six ministers to replace them.

The disagreement threatened to unravel the efforts to restore government to a country that has not had a functioning state since 1991, when dictator Siad Barre was overthrown.

As part of the agreement signed today, a new administration will be elected in Banadir, the district containing Mogadishu. Mayor Habeeb will be free to compete for his old position.

The Union of Islamic Courts, a loose coalition of some of Somalia's Islamic leaders, took control over parts of Southern Somalia in 2006. They were then ousted by a U.S.-supported incursion by the Ethiopian military to install the transitional leaders selected internationally to guide the country to a representative democracy.

This week, Somalia's government and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), one faction of the armed insurgency, formally signed a peace agreement that had been first sketched in June. But with a splinter faction of the ARS rejecting the agreement and the Al-Shabab group vowing to continue its campaign to topple the government, the peace accord has done little to quell violence.

Last week, Al-Shabab, the largest of Somalia's armed groups, took control of the key port city of Kismayo. The move left 65 people dead as the group clashed with a local clan militia allied with the government.