Somali parliament endorses new government

Somalia's new parliament endorsed on Tuesday all 10 ministers appointed by the prime minister, approving one of the smallest ever cabinets for the war-ravaged nation. Two women are among the 10, including Somalia's first female foreign minister, Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Adan, who hails from the self-declared independent state of Somaliland. "Lawmakers have endorsed the new cabinet with a majority vote, 219 members out of the 225 who attended the session gave the 'yes' vote to the new cabinet," said parliament speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari. Three others rejected the cabinet, and three abstained. "The lawmakers have endorsed the new cabinet, and now they have to face the difficult tasks ahead," lawmaker Aweys Al-Qarni told AFP. The new government faces tough challenges as it seeks to install order in a country racked by decades of war, and with Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents vowing to overthrow the Western-backed administration. Somalia has been in political chaos and deprived of an effective central government since the fall of President Siad Barre in 1991. The new administration led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud -- who took office in September -- ended eight years of transitional rule by the corruption-riddled government.