Lawmakers okay Somali-American as new PM

The speaker of Somalia's parliament says lawmakers have approved the nomination of the country's new prime minister.

Partliament Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, says lawmakers voted by a show of hands 297-92 in favor of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali-American.

Mohamed was nominated on October 14 by Somalia's president.

The vote on Mohamed's nomination has been delayed several times because of a disagreement over procedure.

The Somali government controls only a few blocks of the capital, Mogadishu. It has accomplished little since its inception in 2004. The Horn of Africa nation has not had a fully functioning government since 1991.

Somalia's new prime minister has taught at Erie Community College in western New York.