Yesterday the president of Somalia, Abdulahi Yusuf, set foot in his country's capital, Mogadishu, for the first time in his presidency; he took office nearly three years ago. He was able to do so because a loose coalition of Islamists, called the Union of Islamic Courts, which had taken over most of the country six months ago, suffered defeat at the hands of the government's forces backed up in large measure by troops from Ethiopia.
Mr Yusuf's transitional government enjoys support internationally despite being weak, divided and unpopular. Last month the UN Security Council, greatly encouraged by the United States, voted to support the government with a peacekeeping force. The United States, with some justification, felt that Islamist rule was allowing al-Qaeda terrorists both a safe haven and a strategic stronghold from which it could spread its influence. Ethiopia, a country where the government is mostly orthodox Christian but where muslims make up half the population, had no desire for a fundamentalist Islamic nation on its borders and so it provided the critical muscle, reportedly 8,000 troops, for the government's forces.
The Islamists have retreated to the south of the country and government forces are determined to capture or kill them. Kenya is taking steps to ensure that they do not cross over its border and US warships are frustrating any attempts by them to flee Somalia by sea.
Somalia has hardly known a year of peace since it was formed in 1960 through the merger of a British protectorate and a former Italian colony. However, it was with the overthrow of President Mohamed Siad Barre and his socialist government 16 years ago, mostly by a motley collection of warlords, that the country fell into a state of ungovernable criminality as warlords fought endless turf wars with each other.
Mr Yusuf's forces were aided not just by Ethiopia but also by the warlords. They remain armed to the teeth and are busy reclaiming the fiefdoms that the Islamists kicked them out of. The government must decisively disarm the warlords or Somalians will once again be pitched back into the lawless misery from which the Islamists had delivered them.
Also, Mr Yusuf should thank the Ethiopians profusely and then send them packing. Troops from a "Christian" country which has twice fought Somalia could easily outstay their welcome. Of most importance, Mr Yusuf must open dialogue with the many moderates within the Islamic Courts with a view to establishing a power-sharing government and offering Somalians their first chance of real peace for decades.