DATE=8/30/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SOMALIA / PRESIDENT (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-265983
BYLINE=KATY SALMON
DATELINE=NAIROBI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Somalia's first president in nine years has
arrived in his homeland, where he says he will try to
re-establish a system of national government. The
feuding warlords who have controlled Somalia since
1991 are expected to resist any attempt to curb their
power. Katy Salmon reports from Nairobi.
TEXT: Thousands of flag-waving Somalis greeted their
new president, Abdulkassim Salat Hassan, when he
landed in the country Wednesday morning. A convoy of
more than 100 well-armed pickup trucks, known as
"technicals," escorted him to the capital, Mogadishu.
Somalia's parliament-in-exile elected Mr. Hassan in
Djibouti, and he took the presidential oath of office
in that neighboring state on Sunday.
The new parliament and president mark the 13th attempt
to find a peaceful solution to Somalia's problems.
Somalia has lacked a central government since 1991,
when a combined force of opposition leaders overthrew
dictator Mohammed Said Barre. The faction leaders
then turned on each other, turning the Horn of Africa
nation into a lawless territory, with rival warlords
battling each other from separate fiefdoms.
When famine struck Somalia in 1993, American attempts
to send help ended in disaster. Nearly 40 U-S
soldiers assigned to duty with United Nations forces
were killed. Graphic [film] footage of a dead
American being dragged through the streets prompted
their swift withdrawal.
Now that he is in Somalia, President Hassan faces
strong opposition from the country's warlords, who
have condemned the peace and reconciliation process in
Djibouti over the past three months.
Mr. Hassan says his future government's main priority
will be to disarm the militias.
Leaders of most of Somalia's armed factions have said
they do not recognize Mr. Hassan as the country's
ruler. They have been meeting in Mogadishu this week,
reportedly planning how to resist the new government.
/// OPT /// Leaders in two areas of northern Somalia
that have managed to avoid being torn apart by clan
warfare -- the breakaway republic of Somaliland and
the regional state of Puntland -- also oppose the new
parliament and president. /// END OPT ///
The real test will come when the parliament moves home
from Djibouti to Somalia. It will have to recruit the
militiamen who now cruise the streets, and persuade
them to join a new national security force.
President Hassan says he will spend only two days in
Somalia before heading to New York to represent his
country at the United Nations General Assembly.
(Signed)
NEB/KS/WTW/JP
30-Aug-2000 11:18 AM LOC (30-Aug-2000 1518 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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