Transitional Federal Government's troops. Assassination attempt On 17 September 2006, a suicide car bomber smashed his vehicle into Ahmed's convoy outside the National Parliament in Baidoa. The attack killed four of Ahmed's bodyguards as well as Ahmed's brother. Six attackers were also slain in the subsequent gun battle. Ahmed's life was most likely saved by the fact that he was traveling in the second vehicle in the convoy rather than the front one (a decoy). The Islamic Courts Union, which at the time controlled much of the southern half of the country, was blamed for the attack. Health problems Ahmed underwent a liver transplant in the 1990s. In early December 2007, he was admitted to a hospital in Nairobi for treatment of what his spokesman described as bronchitis, and on 4 January 2008, he collapsed in Baidoa and was taken to Ethiopia for treatment. Two days later, Ahmed was rushed to London for tests. He returned to Mogadishu on 16 February 2008; rebels promptly fired mortars at the presidential compound, reportedly wounding at least five people. Dismissal of government In the second half of 2008, Ahmed had been at loggerheads with then Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein over a proposed new cabinet, the latter of which Ahmed characterized as nothing more than a "clan deal". On 14 December 2008, Ahmed announced that he had dismissed Hussein and his government, citing corruption, inefficiency, treason and failure to bring peace to the war-torn country as reasons for the dismissal. Earlier in the year, Hussein had survived a vote of no confidence after having been accused by some lawmakers of embezzling state funds. Hussein said that Ahmed did not have the power to fire him without parliamentary approval, while Ahmed asserted that he believed Parliament would endorse the dismissal. Parliament supported Hussein in a vote on 15 December, but Ahmed nevertheless appointed Mohamoud Mohamed Guled as Prime Minister to replace Hussein on 16 December. On 21 December, Radio Garowe reported that 80 members of parliament held a conference in Baidoa where they all agreed that the vote of confidence in support of Hussein's government never took place. Ismail Ali Nur, who spoke on behalf of the dissenting lawmakers, indicated that Somalia's constitution requires a parliament quorum of no less than 139 MPs present for votes, but that "only 95 MPs" showed up as opposed to the 143 members of parliament claimed by Speaker