The latest to join the field of presidential candidates is wealthy businessman Al Haj Mohamed Yassin. "The word peace is missing from the Somali dictionary," he said, "It is high time someone stepped forward and said enough is enough."

Somalia has not had a functioning Government since clan-based opposition leaders joined forces to oust dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. They then turned on each other, reducing the country to a patchwork of fiefdoms ruled by heavily armed clan-based factions. Although a transitional government was elected at an August 2000 peace conference in Djibouti, it has had little influence outside the capital, Mogadishu, and has been unable to disarm the gunmen. Its three-year mandate expired on August 12th.

After more than a dozen rounds of talks between warlords, clan leaders and members of the transitional government trying to end the chaos, the 366 delegates agreed to create a parliament, which will appoint a president to govern the entire nation. Ordinary Somalis will not choose the 351 members of parliament. The heads of 23 clan-based factions will choose them, in consultation with tribal leaders who signed a cessation of hostilities agreement last October. The goal is to select a parliament by next month, but the process could well take longer, and there is no deadline. Meanwhile, delegates are putting the final touches to the country's transitional charter.

The pool of presidential hopefuls mirrors Somalia's past. Abdirahman Jama Barre, brother of the former dictator, is a candidate. Also in the race is Hussein Mohamed Aidid, a former US Marine and son of Mogadishu warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid, who managed to evade capture by American troops in 1993. A mission to apprehend some of Aidid's aides in October of that year resulted in the deaths of 18 American soldiers.