MOGADISHU: Somali women danced in the streets and anti-aircraft missiles were blasted into the air yesterday to celebrate the election of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed as president.
The Islamist leader won the presidency in an all-night Parliament session that ended early yesterday in neighboring Djibouti and vowed to end conflict in the Horn of Africa nation, make peace with neighbors and rule with honesty and justice.
“We are supporting our newly elected president of Somalia, because he is a peaceful man. We expect him to practice our religion. We love him and that is why we are supporting him,” Ali Hashi Hirsi said.
Thousands of supporters converged in the capital Mogadishu’s war-battered stadium chanting, “Long live Sheikh Sharif.”
In Mogadishu and some central parts of the country, not under the control of Islamists, people stayed up all night to watch television or listen to the radio.
“Welcome Sharif, we are tired of war. Let Somalis join hands,” Farhia Hassan, a mother of three, said as she waved a green branch symbolizing peace.
The spokesman for some 3,500 African Union peacekeeping troops stationed in Mogadishu and long the targets of attacks by insurgents also welcomed Ahmed’s victory. “President Sheikh Sharif is no doubt committed to the peace process and we will do what it takes to support him and his government,” said spokesman Barigye Ba-Hoku.
Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, an Islamic group, said it would support Ahmed but warned him not to reach out to its archfoe Al-Shabaab, which is on Washington’s list of foreign terrorists. “Welcome to your country and make it peaceful. But your success will melt like ice if you do not keep off Al-Shabaab,” spokesman Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf said. The group, which has been fighting Al Shabaab, said it was not interested in politics but in the protection of Islam.
Ahmed has said he will try to correct what he sees as the misinterpretation of Islam by some insurgents and will welcome fighters in a new national security force, as long as they are committed to peace.
In Kismayu, a stronghold of Al-Shabaab, the group’s spokesman said the election was “not something to be supported.”
The Organization of the Islamic Conference welcomed Ahmed’s election and hoped that this marks a new beginning that will reinforce the foundation of democracy, peace and stability in Somalia.
In a statement issued by its embassy in Nairobi, the United States congratulated the former opposition leader on his victory. “President Sharif has been a strong proponent of the Djibouti process and has worked diligently on reconciliation efforts in Somalia,” it said referring to UN-sponsored peace talks in Djibouti.
Ethiopia, which sent troops to Somalia, said the election could be a step toward peace and benefit the whole region. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said: “It’s the decision of the Somalis. If they are happy with their own elections, everybody else should be happy.”
