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[Adventurer]

Posted on Fri, May. 04, 2007email thisprint this
SOMALIA
Former warlord Mohamed Dheere takes control in Somali capital
By Mahad Elmi and Shashank Bengali
McClatchy Newspapers

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A former warlord who for a time had been on the CIA payroll was sworn in Friday as mayor of Mogadishu and announced a plan to pacify this turbulent African capital within three months by requiring residents to turn in their guns.


"Weapons will be in the hands of the government and no one else," Mohamed Dheere told a crowd at his inauguration.


But previous regimes have failed to disarm Mogadishu - the most dangerous city in Africa, where many families maintain AK-47s and other weapons for protection - and Dheere offered few details of his security plan.

Some analysts speculated that the appointments would appease members of Mogadishu's dominant Hawiye clan, which has felt locked out of power. Dheere and Awale represent each of the leading Hawiye sub-clans, while the top positions in the government are held by members of the rival Darod clan.


"Part of it is reaching out to the Hawiye clan to create that balance to make things more inclusive, so they can see themselves within the picture of the government," said Omar Jamal, an expert who runs the Somali Justice and Advocacy Center in Minneapolis.


But the elevation of two former warlords figured to anger supporters of the Islamist regime, who are said to number in the thousands. Despite entreaties from the United States and others, the government has refused to allow moderate Islamists into its fold.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17180579.htm

[ddeubel]