The Ogaden National Liberation Front ONLF on Friday declared it would support Mustafa Omer the newly nominated president of Ethiopia’s easterly region of Somali state.
“#ONLF decided to fully support the neOw Somali Regional president Mr Mustafa Omar” the organisation tweeted.
“However, it wishes to express its grave concern to the Fed. gov. of the process of interfering in the internal Affairs of the Somali people” ONLF official twitter account added.
Thr organisation through its twitter account had initially protested the nomination of Omer calling him a “stooge” of Ethiopian Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy’s OPDP political party.
The tweet was later deleted followed by Friday’s declaration of total support for Omer.
Omer was declared the new president of the mainly ethnic Somali region of Ethiopiaon Wednesday by the executive and council members of Ethiopian Somali People’s Democratic Party and clan elders in Addis Ababa.
Mr. Omer will head the region in acting capacity until the May 2020 elections.
The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Abdi Iley following a standoff with the federa government that led to the Ethiopian national army taking over the security of the Somali region.
Omer on Thursday declared a change of the official name of the region to Somali State restoring the region’s original flag that had a projection of the blue and white star flag of the Republic of Somalia.