U.N., Western donors urge Somalia to speed up vote process

Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, H.E. Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations.

SOMALIA: The U.N. Security Council and Western donors have urged Somalia's parliament to speed up approval of new election rules to ensure an August vote is held on time, saying delays put recovery from conflict at risk.

Somalia, slowly rebuilding after decades of violence and still battling an Islamist insurgency, is due to elect a new parliament, whose members will in turn pick the president.