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Saturday October 14
By Kieran Murray MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalian President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan made his entry into Mogadishu with a massive show of force Saturday to begin the task of pacifying a country destroyed in a decade of anarchy. Abdiqassim Salad, who was elected in neighboring Djibouti in August, landed at an airstrip 60 miles from Mogadishu and was escorted into the capital by more than 1,000 heavily-armed militiamen perched on about 100 ``technical'' battlewagons, many mounted with anti-aircraft guns. The massive security operation, put together by Mogadishu businessmen and Islamic religious leaders, succeeded in deterring attacks from clan warlords who have vowed to stop the new president's government from taking office. The warlords' militias stayed away, allowing the president and a large number of his political allies to race through the streets to a hotel in north Mogadishu, where more militiamen and thousands of supporters met them. ``The time of war is over, as far as the people are concerned,'' the 58-year-old president told Reuters shortly after arriving. ``This is the will of the people.'' Children climbed into trees along the road to watch the motorcade that stretched for miles. Women in traditional, brightly colored robes sang and a brass band of former policemen played the national anthem as militiamen used sticks and rifle butts to keep order. ``We are welcoming our president,'' said Abdallah Issaq, a skinny 14-year-old boy who, like most of Somalia's children, has had no school to go to since 1991 when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown and all central authority collapsed. ``We need a president and security. There is no education. We need schools,'' the youngster said, waving a national flag. One Million Dead Up to a million people have been killed in a civil war between rival clans and a series of famines it caused. A huge U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in 1992 to feed the starving and stop the war came under attack from clan militias and was forced out three years later. After a dozen peace initiatives involving the warlords failed, representatives of the main clans this year joined a conference in neighboring Djibouti and agreed to put their differences behind them. They set up a 245-member parliament in August which elected Abdiqassim Salad president. The veteran politician from the Habr Gedir clan of Mogadishu held several cabinet posts under Siad Barre, including interior minister and deputy prime minister. When he briefly visited Mogadishu after his election, around 100,000 people turned out to welcome him in a soccer stadium. This time, aides insist he is back for good. He said the first priority of his government would be restoring peace and order. ``Without security you can not rebuild infrastructure or the economy,'' he said, adding that he wanted to negotiate with any opponent interested in peace. But he cautioned that faction leaders would not receive special treatment. ``Supreme power will be with the people, not with the gangs anymore.'' Abdiqassim Salad named businessman Ali Khalif Galaid as prime minister earlier this week. Galaid plans to name a cabinet in the next few days and start work on restoring central authority in the world's only nation without a government. The government will have three years to start rebuilding the country and organize elections. Galaid admits he faces huge challenges but he is confident that Mogadishu's warlords and groups of freelance gunmen are now too weak to stop the government taking power. ``There may be some freelance elements, or one or two hotheads, but as far as we can tell there is no organized resistance,'' he said. |