Government moves slowly in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Leaders from Somalia's capital gathered Saturday where matters of importance are often debated and settled here: under the shade of a thorny tree.

This one was located at a bombed-out military barracks on the edge of Mogadishu because the guest of honor, Somalian President Abdullahi Yusuf, still refuses to enter a notoriously dangerous city that until last week had been under the control of an Islamist alliance. ``I will come to Mogadishu once everything is in place,'' he said.

Although most Islamist fighters fled Thursday when troops from Ethiopia and Somalia's transitional government advanced, so far the government is moving cautiously in finishing the pacification and occupation of Mogadishu.