Somali PM Names Militia Leader Interior Minister

`My government will work on peace and security and restore the collapsed international relations between Somalia and the world`.

Somalia's new prime minister appointed the leader of a major Islamist militia to the post of interior minister and gave the job of finance minister to a key ally of the president when he named his cabinet on Friday.

The new Islamist president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke face the daunting task of bringing peace to the failed Horn of Africa state after 18 years of violence.

A key to their success will be persuading Islamist groups that fought Ethiopian troops to back peace, and isolating hardline al Shabaab fighters who have declared war on the new administration and are on Washington's list of terrorist groups.

"My government will work on peace and security and restore the collapsed international relations between Somalia and the world. We will hold free and fair elections when our term is over," Sharmarke told parliament, meeting in Djibouti.

Sharmarke, 48, is the Western-educated son of a slain former Somali president. He has worked for the United Nations in Sierra Leone and Sudan, where he was a political adviser on the Darfur conflict.

The government's mandate runs until August 2011.

ROUGH JOURNEY

One Somali analyst said most of the key appointments had gone to members, or allies, of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), which could cause problems when parliament eventually reconvenes in Somalia.

"There is a difficult and rough journey ahead. The main four ministries were given to the ARS, apart from the foreign ministry which has gone to the diaspora," said Hassan Hunduney, a London-based political analyst.

"That is going to create a tough challenge, especially from the former TFG (Transitional Federal Government) members who will be annoyed in some way," he said.

According to a cabinet list from the prime minister's office, Sharmarke appointed Abdulkadir Ali Omar as interior minister and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden as deputy prime minister and finance minister.

Omar was deputy chairman of the Islamic Courts Union that ousted warlords from Mogadishu and ran the capital before it in turn was driven out by invading Ethiopian troops in late 2006.

Omar is based in the capital and is the leader of one of the strongest moderate Islamist militias in the country.

He was against moves by the ARS to reconcile with the Western-backed interim government under a U.N.-hosted peace process in neighbouring Djibouti.

But he changed his tune when Ahmed, who was chairman of the Islamic Courts and then became an ARS leader in exile, was elected president by parliament in January.

New finance minister, Hassan, was parliament speaker when Ethiopian troops intervened. He resigned and was a founder of the ARS. He was a key player in the Djibouti peace process that saw the ARS join an expanded parliament.

The new foreign minister is Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, the elder brother of award-winning journalist Rageh Omaar. The minister for internal security is Omar Hashi Aden, a former colonel and chairman of the joint security committee of the ARS.