New York model Liya Kebede ("Lord of War") has been cast as the lead in "
Desert Flower," the $16 million adaptation of Waris Dirjes' bestselling autobiography, which recounts her rise from a childhood in the Somali desert to the catwalks of the international fashion biz.
In her book, Dirjes speaks out against the custom of female circumcision, still practiced among certain tribes in Somalia and other African countries.