Ahmed named new Somali president

DJIBOUTI, Djibouti, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Somali lawmakers have tapped moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed to serve as the African country's new president, officials in Djibouti said.

Ahmed won in a second round of voting after Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein withdrew his name from consideration, BBC reported Saturday.

The election followed the resignation of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. Ahmed was the leader of an opposition movement accused of having links to al-Qaida, the British broadcaster reported.

Ahmed was sworn in Saturday, and will represent Somalia at an African Union summit in Ethiopia this weekend.

The Somali parliament met in neighboring Djibouti because of political instability in war-ravaged Somalia, where Islamic militias control much of the country.

Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991 and tens of thousands of people have been killed in waves of violence.