The Somali parliament in exile, currently operating from Djibouti, has elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, former leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), as president of Somalia. Meanwhile, the situation in Somalia remains in flux. Large regions are controlled by the Salafi-jihadi organization Shabab Al-Mujahideen, which has declared that it does not recognize President Sharif and will continue to fight the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Recently, this organization took over the city of Baidoa, one of the few remaining strongholds of the TFG, and has enforced Shari'a law there. Elsewhere, a rival group called Ahl Al-Sunna Wal-Jama'a has taken up arms against Al-Shabab, and has managed to seize several towns previously under its control....
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