The son of a Somali warlord who eluded and embarrassed US forces a decade ago on Sunday stepped up his campaign to become president of a country his father helped plunge into anarchy.

But far from accusing him of anti-Americanism, opponents of Hussein Farah Aideed say he is a US puppet.

Aideed, a California-educated engineer and former US Marine, served briefly during the ill-fated US peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 1993 when his late father, warlord Mohammed Farah Aideed, defied US attempts to capture him. That hunt led to the Black Hawk Down incident in October 1993, in which 18 US soldiers and about 300 Somali fighters were killed during a raid on an Aideed stronghold in Mogadishu.

Where the late Aideed believed in absolute rule by the gun, the son who returned to Somalia at his father’s death in 1996 is advocating democracy and compromise in his bid to become president in the only country without a government.

Aideed on Sunday rejected suspicions, voiced by Somali factions aligned with Arab League countries, that he is beholden to the United States and Western interests. “I am no puppet to any government. I am working for my people, for myself. I will continue to move forward with my vision to have Somalia be part of the international community,” he told reporters in Nairobi.

Politicians from the newly-minted Somalia parliament, which has 275 members, are due to elect a president on Sept. 22. The parliament met for the first time on Thursday in Somalia’s 14th attempt to establish an effective central government since 1991, when warlords including Aideed’s father toppled military dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

Since then, no national government has been able to control the country and warlords have ruled clan-based fiefdoms by the bullet. That lack of security has forced the 21-month peace process to be held in neighbouring Kenya. Observers are divided on whether Aideed is among the top contenders in a crowded, constantly shifting field. But his name recognition and control of key areas of Mogadishu – through the militia he inherited at his father’s death in 1996 – render him a significant figure in the political landscape.

Aideed had refused to be sworn in as a member of parliament in a protest over delegate selection. But he relented on Friday and took his oath, promising to negotiate an end to the dispute. “It is better to point out the discrepancies in the peace process, rather than have it all collapse,” Aideed said of his change of heart.

<B>C. Bryson Hull</B>