WHEN the British and
Swedish ambassadors to Somalia recently queued up to meet a new member of the
government appointed by the third prime minister in 18 months, the man they met
was so new to Somali politics that a government adviser was unsure of his name.
But it was not long before Mohamed Omar Arte, the incoming deputy prime
minister, found himself in the midst of the bloody turmoil that remains a grim
hallmark of politics in Somalia. On February 20th, two days after he met the
Western envoys, he narrowly escaped with his life when suicide-bombers from the
Shabab, Somalia’s extreme Islamist group linked to al-Qaeda, attacked a hotel
in Mogadishu, the capital, during Friday prayers, killing 25 people (plus both
bombers). On March 27th gunmen hit another Mogadishu hotel popular with
politicians, killing at least 17 people.
Meanwhile, strife
within the government continues to damage President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
After his election in 2012 he was greeted as a breath of fresh air. Respected
for his record as a human-rights enthusiast, he was free of the blood and murk
that stained so many of Somalia’s more seasoned politicians. He was chosen by a
275-strong parliament whose members were nominated by elders from a
cross-section of clans. Though it was a flawed method, with plenty of
vote-buying and little direct say for ordinary Somalis, it was better than what
had gone before. Read Full Article
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