Somali parliament elects Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president

The Somali parliament has elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s new president, a development unprecedented in the past two decades.

Parliament members cast their ballots in a second round presidential run-off on September 10, which pitted the 56-year-old university lecturer Hassan Sheikh Mohamud against former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.