Creditor shuts Somali parliament
MOGADISHU, 12 MAY 2003 (BBC)--Somalia's parliament has been forced to shut temporarily because it has failed to pay its rent.

The national transitional government, set up in 2000, owes a year's rent for the building being used by parliament.

Police at the parliament - where many documents are stored - have been told to leave by the proprietors who are now guarding the building.

The government should pay $1,400 a month for the property, Mohamed Hassan Idleh who manages the building told the BBC.

"We won't let anyone into the building until we're paid. We've raised the issue several times, but nobody seem to care what we were talking about," he said.

The drivers of the 29 buses that transport MPs from their houses to the parliament have also stopped working because they have not been paid for one year. MORE