Somalian legislators approved the Canadian son of a former leader as the country's new prime minister on Saturday.

The appointment of Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke was backed by a vote of 414-9 at a meeting in neighbouring Djibouti, the United Nations political office for Somalia said.

Sharmarke's father, Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, was the country's last democratically elected president. He was assassinated in 1969.

Sharmarke, 48, who holds Somalian and Canadian citizenships, has held several UN posts over the past seven years. He has degrees in political science and political economy from Ottawa's Carleton University.

President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed named Sharmarke on Friday as his choice for the position after the collapse of the previous government in December.

The men have the difficult job of bringing security and services to a country that has not had a functioning government since 1991 and nearly half the population is dependent on aid.

Ahmed was a key leader of the Council of Islamic Courts that ran Mogadishu for six months in 2006. He was ousted when Somalia's weak UN-backed government called in the Ethiopian troops in December 2006 to drive them from power.

Islamist groups including the powerful al-Shabab, which the U.S. State Department says has links to al-Qaeda, responded by launching an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians.

Since Ahmed's election last month, he has vowed to part with his former extremist allies and pursue a moderate Islamic policy. But the insurgents do not recognize the government and have forced it to meet across the border in Djibouti.

Officials hope Ahmed's credentials with the insurgents along with Sharmarke's international experience and family history will help unite Somalis. Former foe Ethiopia on Friday expressed confidence in Somalia's new president. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ahmed had assured him of his commitment to peace in Somalia and its neighbours.

"We are happy that we got such reassurance," Meles said. "We believe this is a major trend, a political trend among the so-called moderate Islamists."