Aideed warns world against Somali president

One of Somalia's most powerful faction leaders, Hussein Aideed, has returned to Somalia after warning the international community not to recognise the new interim president, Abdulkassim Salad Hassan.

He said that any steps to exclude the factions from the reconciliation process could lead to more bloodshed in the country.

Mr Aideed issued the warning as Mr Hassan left Somalia for Cairo and New York, where he is seeking international support for his administration.

Mr Aideed and other faction leaders are demanding a new reconciliation process to follow a peace conference in Djibouti that culminated last week in Mr Hassan's election. The faction leaders boycotted the conference, but the Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been trying to persuade them to back Mr Hassan.

Somalia has been without a central government since 1991 when the regime under Mohamed Siad Barre collapsed.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service