Somali leaders approve constitution

(Vatican Radio) Somali leaders voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to adopt a new constitution that contains new individual rights and sets the country on a course for a more powerful and representative government. The vote came after two thunderous blasts at the gates of the meeting site from a failed suicide attack.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack. He praised the new draft constitution, describing it as “an important step towards a better future.”

The Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, Bishop Giorgio Bertin, agreed that it was a positive step, but cautioned that some problems remain. “We should remember,” he said, “that still large areas of central and southern Somalia are in the hands of Islamists, the Shabab, who oppose any kind of constitution.”

He said there is still work to do: “But of course we - the Somalis and the international community - should not simply say, we have accomplished something, we are finished. There is a constant need of support for the coming months, and I would say also for the coming years.”

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