Mogadishu's fathers turn to the gun -- again

MOGADISHU, Feb 19 (Reuters) Abdi Nur already had a hand gun. But to protect his wife and three children in Mogadishu, he has just had to buy an AK-47. And as if that wasn't bad enough, prices have just doubled, because everyone else wants one too.

The lightning war that drove out an Islamist movement and installed the internationally recognised government in the capital last December has done nothing for the security of ordinary people.

''My neighbours have been attacked several times by thugs with machine guns, that is why I bought the AK-47,'' said Nur.

''There are thugs who terrorise us day and night. And there are others who hide amongst our homes and fire mortars and rockets at the government, which fires back and hits us.'' When the government swept in with the help of Ethiopian forces, it sought to disarm a city of 1 million people that is notorious for its anarchic streets but had found a measure of security in six months of strict Islamist rule.

But few guns were handed in, and now they are back on the streets.

Like dozens of residents, Nur has taken matters into his own hands by joining a vigilante street patrol to resist both the armed street criminals and the organised guerrillas.

''We patrol the streets day and night, in shifts,'' he said.

''I had a pistol in my house but that's no good. I needed a bigger gun.'' In a city where gun law has been the rule since the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991, it isn't hard to find one -- if you have the money.

ARMS MARKET ''Insecurity has increased the demand,'' said a gun dealer at Mogadishu's Cirtogte market -- meaning ''sky shooters'' in Somali -- who declined to be named.

''An AK-47 used to cost 0 before the government took control of Mogadishu. It now costs up to 0. A pistol that went for 230 dollars has now gone up to 0.'' Pistols and AK-47 semi-automatic rifles -- the legendary Kalashnikovs -- are the most sought-after. The mortars and rocket-propelled grenades that are being fired at Ethiopian and government troops almost daily are also in demand.

''There are three categories of people buying arms,'' the dealer said. ''Ordinary people, gangsters and some who are preparing to fight the foreign troops. They are buying small and heavy arms including mortar bombs in bulk.'' He said most of the weapons at the market were left over from a huge arsenal belonging to the Islamists, who had controlled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia since June.

Although the government had blocked a main arms smuggling entry point, business was still good.

''I decided to deal in guns because of the huge profits. You can easily make over 100 percent,'' he said, smiling.

''I'm a businessman, I just want to make money, not to kill people. Whoever buys the weapons is responsible for their use.'' The government is pinning its hopes on an African Union peacekeeping mission that is due to take over from the Ethiopian forces to try to restore stability and disarm the city.

It will face not only threats of resistance from Islamist fighters but a gun culture that reaches into almost every street and family.

As the dealer says: ''There are enough weapons in the country to fuel war for another decade.'' REUTERS SP KN0843