DJIBOUTI (Sh. M. Network)-The Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) said on Sunday their leader Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed will run for the country’s presidency.

“We decided to name Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed as our candidate tothe nation’s president,” said Abdirahman Ibbi, a spokesman for the opposition.

“I am ready to run for the country’s presidency with the help of our Allah and the Somali people,” said Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the chairman of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia.

Somalia’s parliament met in neighbouring Djibouti on Saturday to discuss how to include the moderate Islamist opposition in a new government that can try and bring peace to the Horn of Africa nation.

The international community has been urging Somalis to settle their differences, expand the parliament and elect a new president next week, in time for a summit of regional leaders.

Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the moderate Islamist leader from the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS), told the legislators it was time to join forces, oppose the perpetrators of violence and end the bloodshed.

“This is a day to correct past mistakes. We have to take this historic opportunity,” he told the opening of the talks. “There’s no excuse for Somalis to kill each other.”

The international community hopes a more inclusive Somali government will be able to reach out to armed groups who are still fighting the government and targeting African Union peacekeepers in the capital Mogadishu.

Shabelle Media Network

By Ahmednor Mohamed Farah