Somalia's political crisis deepened further on Friday as another minister quit the interim government, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi to resign, according to Reuters. Reconstruction Minister Barre Shire Adan's departure brings to 40 the number of senior officials to desert the fragile administration, many of them citing Gedi's reluctance to reach out to rival Islamists who control a large swathe of the nation. Another minister resigned late on Wednesday. "I have resigned because the government of Ali Mohamed Gedi has failed to deliver," Adan told reporters. The exodus has accelerated since Gedi narrowly survived a crucial confidence motion last week. Most lawmakers voted against him, but their numbers fell short of the two-thirds needed for a censure. With 16 ministers quitting, one shot dead and four sacked, almost half the posts in the cabinet are empty -- a development that may allow the Islamists to join the government. "Prime Minister Gedi's government is a minority government," said Zakaria Mahamud Haji, a legislator and chairman of the foreign and international relations parliamentary committee. He said Gedi faced two options: to step down or form a ruling coalition with other political parties.
