Somalia's new president asks al Shabaab to surrender
Feb. 22, 2017, 6:00 pm
By REUTERS
Somalia's newly
elected President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and his wife Zeinab Abdi listen to
speeches during his inauguration ceremony in Somalia's capital Mogadishu,
February 22, 2017. /REUTERS
Somalia's new
president was inaugurated on Wednesday, promising his people that the era of al
Shabaab and other Islamist militant groups was over.
Mohamed
Abdullahi Mohamed, a dual US-Somali citizen, called on al Shabaab's thousands
of fighters to surrender, promising them "a good life" if they did.
"To those
who work with al Qaeda, al Shabaab and IS (Islamic State), your time is
finished," he said at the inauguration ceremony, attended by the leaders
of neighbouring states.
"You have
been misled, destroyed property and killed many Somalis. Come and we shall give
you good life," he said.
Somalia has
been in turmoil since 1991, hit by decades of conflict at the hands of clan
militias. Over the past several years it has faced an insurgency by al
Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which the government is battling with the help of
regional troops.
On Sunday a
suicide bomb in a crowded market in the capital Mogadishu killed dozens of
people.
As well as the
security situation, Mohamed, who was elected by lawmakers on February 8, faces
the challenge of cutting corruption.
"Our
government will not loot but will help its people. We shall fight insecurity,
economic crisis and unemployment," he said.
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