May. To the south, in the country's agricultural heartland, people say the government has reneged on provisions of the Djibouti conference requiring land restitution. In the lost decade, according to experts on Somalia, the strongest of the factions, run by Mohamed Farah Aidid, stole vast tracks of rural land and prime urban real estate. That clan, the Habr Gedir, remains the dominant force in the new government. In a troubling development, leaders from the Mogadishu factions have gathered in Ethiopia with other disgruntled Somali movements to forge a campaign against the new government. Some of those groups are backed by Ethiopia, which accuses the new government of failing to represent all of Somalia's clans and has moved its troops into southern Somalia.
Civil society is a great buzzword, but it makes no sense in Somalia.
Streets that were blocked for years by armed factions are now open. People are setting up stalls without fear.