Somalia to choose President

Somali lawmakers are scheduled to choose the next president Monday as the nation sets up its first stable central government since 1991. The new parliament, which was elected last month, will hold a ballot to choose the president from about two dozen candidates, according to a report of CNN. In a letter to lawmakers, the United Nations called for a credible leader who can propel the African nation toward peace. \'After two decades of civil war, a collapsed state and innumerable indignities to the proud Somali people, we are hours away from the election of a new president,\' said Augustine P. Mahiga, the U.N. envoy to the nation. \'The event that will completely end the transitional period and move us toward a phase of political and socio-economic transformation.\'