Somalis stroll Mogadishu under eye of govt victors
Source: Reuters
By C. Bryson Hull MOGADISHU, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Residents of Somalia's chaotic capital filled its bullet-scarred streets on Monday to shop, do business and see the soldiers who turned a weak interim government into a commanding new ruler in just two weeks. One of the world's most dangerous cities passed a quiet New Year under the eyes of patrolling government soldiers and their Ethiopian allies, who drove the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) from Mogadishu on Thursday, ending six months rule. It was a rare day for residents who have known little but violent anarchy, bitter clan rivalry and squabbling warlords since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Groups of women and children gathered to gawk at the Ethiopian soldiers whose tanks, planes and artillery gave the government the power to drive the SICC from the capital and end six months of Islamist rule across much of the south. The Ethiopians guarded key facilities including the air and sea ports, police bases and the former U.S. Embassy or strolled through the marketplaces buying cigarettes at kiosks with their own country's birr currency. Interim administration officials took over official buildings deserted by the SICC after a greeting from locals that included scenes of jubilation, fear and protests. Residents said they hoped the government could re-establish and maintain the kind of stability in Mogadishu, which came after the Islamists drove out warlords whose fighters had been robbing, killing and intimidating residents for years. Chillingly, some of those warlords or their fighters have been seen in the city since the Islamists abandoned their defences on Thursday. Shortly after the fighters of the hardline religious movement fled, residents looted their arsenals. The government has now given thousands of militia three days to disarm, or be disarmed by force, and has promised to help former fighters join the police or military, or find other work. Businessmen said that would have to happen fast if Mogadishu's new rulers expect them to lay down their arms. "I have six guards with AK-47s. If the government gives me a guarantee my store will not be broken into, then I will hand over my guns," food importer Farah Isse said. "It will be a good idea if the government employs all militias, including mine." Many Somalis said the government had a long way to go to disarm a city of one million, and solve the root problem behind Mogadishu's rule of the gun -- crushing poverty. WARLORDS ERA ENDED "That is why we have been in chaos in the past years," restaurant worker Ali Osman said. "If the government quickly takes charge, opens the seaport and airport and provides jobs for the thousands of youths used as militiamen, then calm will return and we will enjoy peace." One of the last U.S.-backed warlords to surrender to the Islamists in the battle for Mogadishu, Abdi Hassan Awale -- popularly known as Qaybdiid -- told a news conference his days of violence were finally behind him. "Weapons are the enemy of Somalia, including the ones I have. Will we keep the enemy of Somalia, or leave it? We will lay it down," Qaybdiid said on Monday. "The time of warlords is over. What is here is a time of reconciliation." Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, who entered his Horn of Africa hometown in victory on Friday, said his administration would not recognise any warlords. "We do not deal with warlords and the warlord era in Somalia has ended," he told reporters on Monday. As he spoke, his Ethiopian-backed forces were in pursuit of the fleeing leaders of the Islamist movement who brought stability by enforcing stricty Muslim sharia law, but angered Mogadishu residents by shutting cinemas, holding public executions and banning the widely used mild narcotic qat. As the New Year brought an end of nearly two weeks of war, many remained to be convinced by the government's promises. "We are at a crossroads," said taxi driver Mahamud Mohamed. "Nobody has taken over the whole country. Anything can happen." (Additional reporting by Guled Mohamed and Sahal Abdulle)
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