Somali leaders have adopted a political “road map” for reforms that will culminate in elections within a year for a government that will replace a string of transitional regimes in a country blighted by conflict, instability and now famine.

The UN, which has been brokering a long-term solution, said Somali political leaders will carry out reforms on security, the constitution, political reconciliation and good governance. The planned reforms were recommended by a Somali preparatory committee last month, with polls expected by August 20 next year for members of a revamped federal parliament, local administrations and a president.

Somalia has been plagued by violence with no effective central government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The current transitional government came to power on the back of an US-backed Ethiopian invasion that drove out the Union of Islamic Courts, which has been replaced by more radical and militant Islamist groups, notably al-Shabaab. Read More »