Somalia's newly chosen president, Abdullahi Yusuf, has pledged to disarm militias and do all he can to bring security to the war-torn Horn of Africa country.
He spoke in Nairobi, Kenya, after Somalia's new parliament elected him president Sunday. Somalia was considered too dangerous for the parliament to meet there.
Lawmakers cast 189 votes for Mr. Yusuf, and 79 for Abdullahi Addow, a former finance minister. Twenty-four other members of parliament were either eliminated or stepped down in two earlier rounds of voting.
Mr. Yusuf is head of Somalia's northeastern region of Puntland. He is now expected to name a prime minister who will form a cabinet.
Sunday's vote was the result of two years of peace talks among various clan and militia leaders, who have loosely ruled Somalia since 1991.