MOGADISHU — Somalia's embattled president, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, vowed to reorganise his administration's security forces and reclaim control of the capital Mogadishu.
"We have spent the last days with the army here and I can tell you that we have already collected sufficient information to improve and reorganise the security forces," he said.
Sheikh Sharif was speaking at Villa Baidoa in Mogadishu, the main base for the transitional federal government's security forces. He spent three days there and was seen in military uniform, a rare occurrence.
"I can assure you that the armed forces will bring about the required changes to the situation across the country and in Mogadishu in particular," he told hundreds of members of the armed forces.
"We are in the final stages of fully preparing the national armed forces... With our efforts now, I hope the army's operations will be more effective than they used to be," he said.
"The president stayed with us at Villa Baidoa and has not gone back to his palace since Tuesday. He met all the top military officials and discussed the security situation with them," Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Jama told AFP.
"I think he is now committed to engaging a final offensive to eliminate the Al Qaeda-linked militants," he added, referring to the Shebab group, which has waged a fierce insurgency in Mogadishu and controls most of the country.
"He is no longer busy with other things now, he is only talking about military and security issues," the military official added.
Sheikh Sharif's military push comes weeks after a new government was approved last month and as differences are appearing between the Shebab and their allies in the insurgency Hezb al-Islam.
