Somali leader taken to hospital

President Yusuf has had a liver transplant

Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf has been taken to hospital in the Kenyan capital.
His condition is said to be "serious" but there are no further details. His spokesman said it was a routine visit.

He was named president in 2004 after protracted peace talks in Kenya but has not been able to end years of conflict.

Mr Yusuf's Ethiopia-backed government is battling Islamist insurgents and the UN says that more than one million people are homeless in Somalia.

"The Somali president has been admitted here. He is in serious condition," a hospital official, who declined to be identified, told the AFP news agency.

But presidential aides have denied he is seriously ill, saying he is "fine".

He is to be flown to London for treatment and has cancelled a meeting on Wednesday with regional leaders.

Mr Yusuf, 72, had been due to travel to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa for Wednesday's meeting between regional leaders and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.