Somalia presidential vote at Mogadishu airport

Somalia’s MPs are electing the country’s president in a heavily guarded aircraft hangar in Mogadishu, as the rest of the country is not safe. Traffic has been banned, schools have been shut and a no-fly zone imposed over Mogadishu to prevent attacks. Despite this, suspected militant Islamists fired mortar rounds close to the venue on […]

Somalia’s MPs are electing the country’s president in a heavily guarded aircraft hangar in Mogadishu, as the rest of the country is not safe.

Traffic has been banned, schools have been shut and a no-fly zone imposed over Mogadishu to prevent attacks.

Despite this, suspected militant Islamists fired mortar rounds close to the venue on Tuesday night.

Somalia, marred by religious and clan conflict, has not had a one-person one-vote democratic election since 1969.

That vote was followed by a coup, dictatorship and conflict involving clan militias and Islamist extremists.

The elections are part of a lengthy and complex process to help the East African state rebuild its democracy and achieve stability.

More than 20,000 African Union (AU) troops are stationed in Somalia to prevent militant Islamist group al-Shabab from overthrowing the weak government.

About 20 candidates are vying to become president, with the top three proceeding to a second round of voting and the top two from that round going forward to a third and final vote.