| The reporter is Opheera McDoom. I kid you not. |
Somalia's interim government and the hard-line Islamic militia which took control of the capital Mogadishu this month yesterday recognised each other. Delegations from the two sides met under Arab League auspices after mediators held separate meetings with them in the morning in an attempt to avert a confrontation which could extend years of conflict. Abdullahi Sheekh Ismail, the Somali foreign minister, and Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, the head of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) delegation, embraced each other after the deal was struck. The interim government recognised "the reality" of the ICU, which itself recognised "the legality" of the government. Both agreed to stop all military and propaganda campaigns. Meanwhile, hundreds of Somalis marched in Mogadishu yesterday, denouncing their new Islamist rulers as fundamentalists. About 700 protesters, including children from Koranic schools, marched through the central Sinai district. "We are Muslims and we do not want these fundamentalists," said a marcher, Muumina Ali, during the three-hour protest.