Somali leader wants united front against extremism

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Somalia's new president called for a united front against violent extremists and signaled his intent to try to bring together the country's feuding Islamic factions, according to an interview published Sunday.

Moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed was sworn in Saturday and faces the daunting task of leading a Western-backed government that wields little control over a country that has suffered nearly 20 years of violence and anarchy.

"I say it is now high time to achieve national unity, forget our differences, unify our ranks and confront those who commit violence," Sharif was quoted as saying by the English-language Saudi Gazette.

Ahmed was chairman of the Islamic Courts Union that ran Mogadishu for six months in 2006 before Ethiopian soldiers drove them from power.

The group's extremist breakaway militia, al-Shabab, has now taken much of the country, forcing lawmakers to meet outside of the country. The U.S. considers al-Shabab a terror organization with links to al-Qaida.

Al-Shabab did not recognize the last government and also disapproves of Sharif, but his election raises hopes that he will bring many of Somalia's Islamic factions into a more inclusive government. The U.S. government welcomed Sharif as leader Saturday and said that he had worked diligently on reconciliation efforts in Somalia.

Sharif was attending the African Union summit in Addis Ababa on Sunday and holding a series of meetings with other African leaders. He did not speak to reporters.

Mohamed Jaama Ali, a minister in Sharif's government, said the administration would first try to appease the militia, but that if they refused to come around, would go after them.

"We'll try to negotiate with them," he said. "We'll try to bring them on board. We'll use the carrot-and-stick. We'll try to influence them — or we'll beat them."

The last president resigned in December after failing to pacify the country during his four-year tenure.

The arid and impoverished Horn of Africa nation of some 8 million people has not had a functioning government since clan-based militias overthrew a dictator in 1991 then turned on each other.

Pirates prey on international shipping freely from Somalia's lawless shores, and analysts fear an extremist Islamic administration could become a haven for international terrorists.

There have been more than a dozen previous peace efforts and three previous governments were formed, but they never managed to take effective control over most of the country.