The Somali government appointed a new administrator for the capital Mogadishu on Saturday. A decree issued by the puppet Prime Minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, nominated former warlord, Mohammed Omar Habeeb (Mohammed Dhere), as the mayor of Mogadishu and chairman of Banadir province. Mr. Dhere replaced Adde Gabow, mayor of Mogadishu.
The nomination comes as the capital is calm for the second day following heavy gun battle that killed more than 350 Somalis and wounded more than 1,000.
Government soldiers were positioned at the streets of capital yesterday. The decree was reportedly approved by the president of Somalia, Abdulahi Yusuf, who arrived in the capital on Friday from the government's temporary base in the farming town of Baidoa, 245 km south of Mogadishu.
Many Somalis are eagerly asking themselves if Mohammed Dhere, who was known to have controlled Jawhar, 90 km south of Mogadishu with a strong fist could make a difference in the tense situation of Mogadishu where 89% of the population is armed.
Several houses and companies were ransacked yesterday after government soldiers took over control of neighborhoods in north of the capital where the battles between Somali troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers and Mujahideens took place in eight straight days. Amran Omar Hussein, a resident in Artaft neighborhood, has told Shabelle on Saturday that her house was looted.
"Five computers, two generators and other expensive equipments from the government of Finland for a project to train women in Somalia were all looted yesterday and I am very disappointed because they did not belong to me. I am not much worried about my personal belongings that were stolen. The Government soldiers were the only ones that occupied the neighborhood when the insurgents were evicted from the area," Amran said.
Source: Shabelle
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