Insurgents Impose Curfew in Key Somali Port City

Islamists militants controlling of Somalia’s third city of Kismayu have imposed a nine-hour curfew on the key port. The insurgents, who seized control of Kismayu in August, say the 9 P.M. to 6 A.M. curfew is meant to “enhance security” in the port city. Meanwhile, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has agreed to replace the mayor of Mogadishu, a close ally whose sacking by Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein caused a row that almost disintegrated the country’s fragile interim government. Yusuf had revoked Hassan’s sacking order, sparking off a feud that only ended after mediation by Ethiopia. On Tuesday, Yusuf released a decree naming Ibrahim Sheikh Muhiyadin as Mogadishu’s new caretaker mayor, possibly as a reconciliatory gesture towards the prime minister.[PE]