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Ten Years Of Mayhem Leave Somali Capital Scarred But Vibrant
MOGADISHU, Jan 25 (News Agencies) - Ten years of clan warfare have left their mark on almost every wall in this city, where guns and gunmen remain rife, but where business is vibrant and the phone system one of the best in Africa.
Mogadishu was once considered the safest city in east Africa, with crime rates lower than those in Addis Ababa, Nairobi or Djibouti.
That was before civil war spilled onto its streets ahead of, and after the fall of, dictator Mohammed Siad Barre on January 27, 1991.
The Juba Hotel, in the north of the city, used to boast five stars. The few of its walls still standing now give shelter to hundreds of displaced people.
Other hotels on Al-Aruba beach house the unemployed and nocturnal gunmen who come there to sleep during the daytime.
All over the city, bullets, shells and rockets mark walls. Trash lies everywhere, and is sometimes used by gunmen to set up roadblocks and extort money from local residents.
Telephone polls are stripped of their wires.
Armored vehicles bristling with weapons are often seen transporting businessmen and politicians down Wadnaha, Jidka and Sodonka streets.
Moving without such an escort here is unthinkable for prominent citizens.
For the rest of the populace, rusty, windowless buses suffice. But come 5:00 pm, the streets empty in a self-imposed curfew and Mogadishu becomes a ghost town.
The flip side of all this the city's thriving commerce and efficient telecommunications system which boasts international calls considerably cheaper than in neighboring countries, not to mention internet access.
There are no banks to speak of, but money can be wired here in a day, securely and for a nominal commission.
Stalls near Baraka market offer a variety of weapons, including machine guns and anti-tank guns and the necessary spares. It's a noisy place as customers tend to test before buying.
Nearby a shop sells up-to-date computers; next door, quality Persian carpets are on sale.
On many street corners, women offer fuel at prices much lower than at the city's rare filling stations.
The port and airport are still closed. Instead, merchandise comes by road or plane - via Balidogle military airport - from Nairobi, Dubai or Saudi Arabia.
Five U.S. dollars is enough for a large plate of spaghetti and lobster in most restaurants. Fresh vegetables are plentiful.
Movie-lovers can head to makeshift cinemas set up by enterprising gunmen screening Indian movies dubbed into Somali.
Most members of the Darod and Issak clans have fled the city and been replaced by the Hawiye who moved in from neighboring areas.
The north of the city is mainly under the control of the Abgal sub-clan of warlord Ali Mahdi Mohammed, while the south is ruled by the Habr Gedr subclan, that of the late General Mohammed Farah Aidid and his son Mohammed Hussein Aidid.
Other warlords hold sway over pockets of the city in the north and south while freelance gunmen are in plentiful supply.
The Islamic courts support the transitional government in place since late last year.
The transitional government controls bits of the north and south of Mogadihsu, but its ministers and members of an interim parliament remain ensconced in a few heavily guarded hotels.
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