Somalia Elects a New President

(31 January 09-RV) Somalia’s new President is due to be sworn in later today. Moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was elected to the post yesterday after a secret ballot of members of parliament. MPs met in Djibouti because of instability in Somalia, where Islamist militias control much of the country. The Horn of Africa nation has had no central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991 and a  food crisis which has left a third of the population reliant on aid.The international Crisis Group’s analyst in Somalia is Rashid Abdi. He says the political process in Djibouti will eventually need be include rebel factions.