 ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Somalia’s central government agreed on Wednesday to recognise a former Islamist commander as the interim leader of the southern Juba region, in a deal that could help end months of clan fighting that has killed dozens of civilians.
A government official signed the deal in Ethiopia’s capital with Sheikh Ahmed Madobe, who was vying for control of Jubaland’s port city of Kismayu and its hinterland against a clan warlord widely seen as a proxy for Mogadishu.
Diplomats said the deal was a major step to stabilising the fractured state.
(Reporting by Aaron Maasho and Richard Lough; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
