Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussien Sunday rejected the decision by President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed to sack him, heightening a growing political crisis in Somalia.

Speaking in the southern town of Baidoa, Hussien said that the president has no "legal authority" to sack him and that he would continue to serve in his capacity as prime minister.

"I do not accept the president's announcement today that he sacked me as prime minister because he does not have that legal authority in our charter," the prime minister said at a press conference in the southern Somali town of Baidoa, the seat of the parliament.

Hussein said that it was for the parliament to decide on the "constitutional breach" of president's decision to sack him early on Sunday after the president accused him of mismanagement and incompetence.

The two senior Somali leaders have been in deep disagreement over variety of issues including the way Somali national reconciliation is being handled by Hussein who has been spearheading peace talks with a faction of the Somali opposition.

The two leaders also disagreed last month over the appointment of new ministers in Hussein's cabinet.

Yusuf refused to endorse the new ministers appointed by the prime minister, following the resignation of 10 pro-president ministers who were excluded from the newly nominated cabinet.

The UN-brokered peace talks in neighboring Djibouti have led to a power sharing deal, but President Yusuf has expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement, characterizing it as "a clan deal."

Under the agreement, the current transitional parliament will be doubled, the government's interim period extended and a new leadership for the war-torn Horn of Africa country is to be elected at the beginning of the new year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2008)