YOUNG Somalis whose only skills are shooting people bow their heads over stolen computers in this war battered capital as they prepare for the distant prospect of peace and jobs.
The labels on the computers - powered by generators - are a reminder of failed western intervention in this Horn of Africa nation, ruled by feuding warlords since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 after a bloody civil war. Most of the stickers say "UNOSOM." They were abandoned by multi national troops serving in the UN Operation in Somalia who beat a hasty and ignominious retreat two years ago after failing to bring peace here and becoming embroiled in the clan fighting.
Others bear the stickers of aid agencies which pulled out after deciding the danger outweighed the benefits of helping Somalia's impoverished people, beset by periodic famines and lacking all but the most basic medical supplies.
White collar jobs are virtually non existent in Mogadishu outside the administrations of the three rival warlords who have carved the city into fiefdoms, and most young men serve in the militias, careening round the streets in battered pick up trucks mounting heavy guns, shooting off bursts of fire to demand right of way at intersections.
They fight for the two self styled presidents, Hassan Mohamed Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed, and for Osman Hassan Ail "Atto", who was once financier to Aidid's father, the late General Mohamed Aidid, but is now allied with Ali Mahdi.
The students at the computer schools sign up for three month courses andpay the equivalent of $100, a fortune here. One school has stopped operating because the area in which it is located has become a battle zone, but the others are in relatively peaceful neighbourhoods. The students learn word processing, accountancy, and the mysteries of spreadsheets.
The war comes right into the classroom, says teacher Mahmed Aden.
As the students practise their word processing, a phrase such as "I support Mr Aidid Junior" will blossom on one computer screen while the one next to it is proclaiming "Ali Mahdi is president."
Before the war, the children of the elite went abroad to learn computer and other skills. "We thought they were simply wasting time, but they got jobs with the UN force and the aid agencies, said Amal Mahmed Ali (23). "That was why I decided to come to this school" she said.
Those who worked for the international agencies earned huge amounts of money by local standards and were paid in dollars. But most of those jobs have gone now, with few aid agencies still operating.
"It's a waste of time studying computers," said one young man from a minor clan. "The aid agencies only hire people from the big clans."
Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan (28), who left his militia to attend one of the schools, was more optimistic. "If you speak English and know how to operate a computer you may have the best chance of getting a job," he said.
But the prospect of peace, and the jobs it would bring, seems as elusive as ever. The latest peace accord, agreed by the three Mogadishu warlords in Nairobi in October, lasted just a matter of hours.