August 30 2004 at 06:55PM
By Mohamed Olad Hassan
Mogadishu - Residents of Mogadishu welcomed the news on Monday that a new Somali parliament had begun work in neighbouring Kenya, expressing hope that the chaotic Horn of Africa country will soon have its first central government in 13 years.
Salad Farah Guutale, spokesperson for the Somali Doctors' Association, said the inclusion of all of the country's armed factions will hopefully bring peace to the country.
"We have been through 14 years of baseless conflicts in Somalia and we have learned enough lessons from the anarchy, so we have no alternative but to support, and co-operate with, the new government," he said.
Leaders of Somalia's major clans have been meeting in Kenya since October 2002 in an attempt to resolve their differences. They hope to establish the first effective central government since 1991, when warlords ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre before turning on each other, plunging the country into chaos.
Traditional leaders and militia commanders met Monday to begin organising a demonstration in support of the new parliament, which will continue working in Nairobi until Somalia is safe enough for them to return.
Of the many problems facing a new Somali government, including disarming a huge array of private militias, officials will have to supervise the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of civilians driven from their homes and now living in squatter camps.
Faduma Aliyow Boorow, a mother of seven children, has spent 13 years of her life in a camp in Mogadishu. She hopes a new government will help her return to her farm in the southwestern region of Bai.
"Now I hope we will get a good life and peace and my husband will have a chance to work and my children will get access to the schools," she said optimistically.
But some Somalis remained pessimistic.
Mohamed Jama Ibaar said he didn't think this peace process will bear any more fruit than more than a dozen previous attempts to bring peace to Somalia. Some religious groups have said they were disappointed that the government's transitional charter did not reflect Islamic teachings. - Sapa-
AP