Somalia

Islamist leader elected president

Article published on the 2009-01-31 Latest update 2009-01-31 16:46 TU

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, newly-elected president of Somalia
(Credit : Reuters )

Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was today elected Somalia's new president, taking charge of a fragile peace process aimed at ending 18 years of civil conflict. The young cleric promptly vowed to form a broad-based government and invited all Somalia's armed Islamists to join the UN-sponsored reconciliation effort.

Sheikh Sharif, who chairs the Islamic Courts Union, comfortably won the vote held in neighbouring Djibouti, only days after the Ethiopian troops who sent him into exile two years ago completed their pullout from Somalia.

He defeated Maslah Mohamed Siad Barre, a general and the son of a former president, in the second round of voting.

 Patrick Mutahi, East and Horn of Africa Director at the Africa Policy Institute in Nairobi, says the new president is the right man for the job at this point in time.

"I think that the members of parliament voted for him, having in mind that the key challenge is to bring the radical Islamists back into the political fold," said Mutahi.

Sheikh Sharif was part of the hardliner al Shabaab militia before he moved on to the Alliance for the Re-liberaition of Somalia, so he holds clout in conservative circles.

"He looks more acceptable than the former president, who was considered more of a stooge of the Ethiopians and Americans," said Mutahi.

He added that Sheikh Sharif and his past affiliations presents a dilemma for the US and the western powers, especially in their pursuit of the 'war on terror' in the Horn of Africa.

The US welcomed Sheikh Sharif as Somalia's newly elected Islamist president. "The United States looks forward to cooperating with President Sharif and his broad-based government in these efforts to establish democracy and achieve peace in Somalia," according a statement released by by the US embassy in Nairobi.