Summary here.

It takes lifetimes for an oil painting to craze and crack. It takes any political entity a much, much less lengthy timeframe.

Somalia’s president rebuked his top security aides on Saturday after insurgent attacks on police stations that killed five people overnight highlighted precarious security in the capital Mogadishu.

President Abdullahi Yusuf called the meeting to deal with persistent violence by remnants of a militant Islamist group his government ousted with Ethiopian military help in the New Year.

“The president called the cabinet ministers, the head of the police force and mayor of Mogadishu to discuss about the security of Mogadishu,” an aide who declined to be named told Reuters.

A legislator close to the president who confirmed the meeting said Yusuf was not pleased with the performance of his security forces. In some cases, newly trained policemen or soldiers have fled their positions after coming under attack.

“He is not happy with the lack of coordination and accountability,” the legislator told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

[snip]

The meeting came after insurgents attacked police stations across Mogadishu overnight, killing at least two police officers and three civilians, witnesses said. Officials denied any officers were killed. Article

Remember this from Aug. 22?

Addressing a news conference in Nairobi, [Somali Interior Minister] Guled said some 4,500 newly-trained government soldiers would pacify the city in the next 20 days.

Chaos abides.

Somali and Ethiopian troops have ordered thousands in the Somali capital to vacate their homes to allow them to conduct searches for arms and insurgents, a human rights group said yesterday.

The order was issued on Thursday following an insurgent attack on a government base earlier in the week, said Sudan Ali Ahmad, chairman of Elman Human Rights, an independent Somali group.

“I cannot give you precise numbers of displaced people but I believe they are in the thousands, and they were forced by Ethiopian and Somali troops to vacate their homes,” Ahmad told The Associated Press, basing the figures on interviews conducted with residents people forced from their homes.

Most have either left Mogadishu or have sought refugee with relatives and friends in other parts of the city, he said.

[snip]

On Friday, the UN refugee agency said its staff in Mogadishu reported that the city was divided in two - the north deserted as residents flee, the south calm.

“The streets of northern Mogadishu are so empty during the day,” the UN agency said in a statement. Article