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After decades of war, Somalia capital enjoys building boom
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Somalia's last president before the country erupted into decades of war made an ominous warning: force him from power, and he would leave Mogadishu as he found it, with only one road. The rest he would destroy.The threat came true: President Siad Barre was ousted in a 1991 coup, and the once elegant, Italian colonial-era seaside town was reduced to a wasteland of ruined buildings in years of bloody battles between rival militias. Now, 21-years later and eight months after Al-Qaeda-allied cut-throats abandoned much of the city following pressure from the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... and government forces, the capital is showing signs of life, with reconstruction underway and land prices soaring. "Security is still not reliable, but people decided they wanted to return life to normal," trader Ahmed Sheikh Gure said. "People are rebuilding their destroyed buildings," he added, waving at a newly repaired shop and a busy construction site. Though Somalia's war is far from over, a regional offensive did force Islamist Shebab cut-throats from many strongholds and they abandoned the city in August. The scars of war remain clear, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in and around Mogadishu, many in basic rag-and-plastic shelters, some in the crumbling ruins of roofless houses. Posted by: Fred 2012-05-08 |
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