The Somali Parliament on Monday voted to endorse Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein and his government, overturning President Abdullahi Yuruf Ahmed's decision to sack the prime minister.

In a no-confidence vote in Parliament, 143 out of the 170 lawmakers voted for the government, 20 rejected and 7 abstained.

"143 of the 170 parliamentarians present voted in favour of the prime minister and his government while 20 voted against and 7 abstained," Sheik Aden Madoobe, parliament speaker, said after the vote.

"So the prime Minister and the government can continue serving the nation and the president's decision is null and void," the speaker said.

The Somali president sacked his prime minister on Sunday, accusing him of incompetence, embezzlement and mismanagement.

The two senior Somali leaders have been in deep disagreement over a variety of issues including the way Somali national reconciliation is being handled.

Soon after his sacking on Sunday, the prime minister rejected the decision by the president.

Speaking in the southern town of Baidoa, the seat of the parliament, Hussien said that the president has no "legal authority" to sack him and that he would continue to serve in his capacity as prime minister.

"I do not accept the president's announcement today that he sacked me as prime minister because he does not have that legal authority in our charter," Hussein, who was appointed prime minister in November 2007 to replace Ali Mohamed Ghedi, said at a press conference.

Speaking before the parliament vote on Monday, Hussein said that it was "the prerogative of the legislative house" to decide on the differences between him and President Yusuf.

The African Union (AU) has called on the two sides to bridge their differrences and join efforts to work for the interests of the country and its people.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said the sacking of the prime minister would undermine efforts to bring peace and further weaken the fragile transitional government of Somalia.

Ping said the dismissal of the prime minister will "further complicate the situation and deepen the rift within the TFG ( Transitional Federal Government)."

It has the potential of "undermining the sustained efforts being made by the AU, IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development ) and the larger international community, including the United Nations, to further reconciliation, peace and stability in Somalia," said the statement.

In recent months, relations between President Yusuf and Prime Minister Hussein have been strained, particularly over reconciliation efforts with the opposition groups. The rift between the two leaders has spread to parliament, where supporters of President Yusuf have previously threatened to pass a vote of no confidence on the prime minister.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.

The UN-brokered peace talks in neighboring Djibouti led to a power sharing deal, but President Yusuf has expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement, characterizing it as "a clan deal".

Under the agreement the current transitional parliament will be doubled, the government's interim period extended and a new leadership for the war-torn Horn of Africa country is to be elected at the beginning of the new year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2008)