Somali Islamist leader wants peace with Ethiopia

DJIBOUTI (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamist presidential candidate said he wants to make peace with Ethiopia, bring young militia fighters into a national security force, and rebuild the country's social services.
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the moderate Islamist leader from the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), also told Reuters he was ready to discuss any political or religious issues with Islamist insurgents still fighting in Somalia.
Ahmed, a law graduate from Libya, was chairman of the Islamic Courts' Union which ran Mogadishu in 2006. Initially welcomed for bringing order to a city ruled by warlords, Ethiopian troops invaded and ousted them from the capital.
But the Ethiopian soldiers failed to quell a two-year Islamist insurgency and left Somalia on Monday. More than 16,000 civilians have been killed since the start of 2007, a million fled their homes and piracy has flourished off Somalia's coast.more..http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37674220090127?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews