Somali Police Boss Faces Big Task To Restore Law

KAMPALA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Lacking money, recruits and political support, Somalia's top policeman faces the unenviable task of training a force to bring law and order back to the anarchic Horn of Africa country.

Brig-Gen Ali Mohamed Hassan Loyan says there are many groups who want him to fail in his mission to enforce the law in one of the world's most dangerous nations.

"In Somalia there are many different militias and warlords, and most of them are against the organisation of the police force or the restoration of law and order," he said.

"That is the real problem we face in the country."

Some Somali political leaders and businessmen also resent any attempt to impose order after years of often lucrative chaos, he told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

"Anyone who does not see their interests in this process is against what we are going to do in the future," he said.

Last year's appointment of a new Somali government was meant to end 14 years of violence in the failed state.

But progress has been hobbled by rampant insecurity fuelled by predatory warlords with their private armies.

Seventy of Loyan's senior officers chosen from Somalia's many clans are in Uganda for training. Classes are held under tight security near the capital Kampala at Joka's Hotel, where a sign on the wall urges participants to respect each other.

RESPECT

A Somali general stands by a projection screen loudly translating lessons by Ugandan officers and Western trainers.

Loyan said Uganda was chosen because of President Yoweri Museveni's chairmanship of Somalia's peace talks in Kenya -- and because its own transition from dictators like the late Idi Amin meant it had a wealth of experience to pass on.

"Our politicians have been divided on the reconciliation process, and most of them are against what they call the frontline states: Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti," he added.

"That is another reason Uganda was selected. It was part of the reconciliation process, and not a frontline state."

Somalia's neighbours have been accused of meddling in its affairs since militias ousted the former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Ten months after winning elections, Somalia's new leader President Abdullahi Yusuf is still based in Jowhar 50 miles south of Mogadishu as he considers the capital too risky.

It will be largely up to Loyan's men to convince him to return to the coastal city of one million.

Following the three-week Ugandan course his officers will return to Somalia to train colleagues at home, he said.

But the extent of that operation will depend entirely on the generosity of rich donor countries, he cautioned.

"Our force was dismantled and disbursed a long time ago," he said. "In Somali we say a beggar must accept anything he gets, whether it is small, large or nothing. We don't know what we can expect from the international community."

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