Somali president says insurgents near total control

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed says Islamist fighters now control almost all of Somalia. He was speaking in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where both he and the Somalia parliament now reside.

Mr Yusuf says the Islamists have now reached the suburbs of both the Somali capital Mogadishu and the normal seat of the country’s parliament, Baidoa. Mogadishu and Baidoa are the only Somali cities still in government hands.

Mr Yusuf’s announcement comes a day after the news that the talks intended to lead to a new Somali government had failed. The parties involved cannot agree about the members of a new cabinet.

Radio Netherlands