The most smashed-up country in the world has reached a crossroads. The recent election of a moderate Islamist, Sharif Ahmed (pictured above), as Somalia's new president may offer the best chance of peace in the country for more than a decade. As head of the Islamic Courts Union that held sway over a chunk of Somalia in 2006, he was later driven into exile by invading Ethiopian troops backed by America. So it was quite a turnaround when, on his first day in office a few weeks ago, this courteous former geography teacher went to Ethiopia and got a standing ovation from heads of state in its capital, Addis Ababa, at an African Union (au) jamboree.rnThis week he and his ministers went back to Mogadishu, Somalia's wrecked seaside capital. In his campaign he pledged to crush or co-opt Somalia's jihadists, who have taken over chunks of the country, and to rebuild national unity. Somalia has had no effective government since 1991, when a military dictator, Siad Barre, was toppled as the cold war ended. Could that change?rnMr Ahmed has a mammoth task. For a start, he has nothing resembling a proper government. His ministers are cobbled together from Islamists, secular nationalists, grizzled warlords and white-collar emigres. They have no budget. He was elected by a parliament that can no longer meet in its own country. Its members operate at foreign donors' expense, staying in a plushrnhotel in the nearby country of Djibouti. A few weeks ago, Somali jihadists overran the dusty Somali town of Baidoa, parliament's official seat (see map on next page).
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