Islamist leader elected president of Somalia

Somalia's president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed arrives for the African Union summit in Addis Ababa yesterday.
Photograph: Reuters

ROB CRILLY in Nairobi

A MODERATE Islamist leader was sworn in as Somalia’s president during the weekend, two years after he fled Mogadishu under fire from Ethiopian forces.

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts which brought peace and security to much of the country in 2006 but which was accused of sheltering al-Qaeda operatives.

He has spent much of the last two years as a wanted man but was elected by Somali MPs meeting in neighbouring Djibouti early on Saturday morning despite lobbying by western officials in favour of his opponent, former Somali prime minister Nur Adde.

His victory is a blow for the US and Ethiopia which have both worked to isolate Islamist factions.

However, analysts believe Sheikh Sharif’s moderate stance gives him the best chance of straddling Somalia’s political divisions.

“His opponent Nur Adde as a person may have the better political skills,” said one observer, “but Sheikh Sharif has a better chance of reaching out to the hardline Islamists mounting the insurgency.” Even by Somalia’s warped standards the past two years have been particularly bloody.

Ethiopian troops who defeated the Islamic Courts were targeted by guerrilla fighters until their withdrawal at the start of the year.

President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a warlord, resigned in December after he tried and failed to replace Nur Adde as prime minister. Now Sheikh Sharif faces the task of leading a shell of a country where millions are homeless and almost half the population needs food aid.

Last week the hardline al-Shabaab movement took control of Baidoa, seat of the Somali government.

“I am extending a hand to all Somali armed groups who are still opposed to this process and inviting them to join us,” said Sheikh Sharif (44), a former teacher, moments after securing victory in the second round of voting. “Very soon, I will form a government which represents the people of Somalia. We will live peacefully with east African countries and we want to co-operate with them.” Some 149 members of his opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia were sworn in as MPs last week as part of a peace deal with Transitional Federal Government.

The TFG has never been popular with Somalis and has failed to control much of the country. It is seen as a stooge of Ethiopia and the West, and many of its ministers are warlords.

Human rights watchdogs have accused its security forces of war crimes as they battled the insurgency.