Word: mogadishu
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When Islamic clerics captured Somalia?s capital Mogadishu last month, it seemed to offer some hope for peace in the war-torn Horn of Africa country. Somalia has had no central government for 15 years, and the country was a patchwork of fiefdoms run by murderous warlords. The rise of the Islamic Courts Union worried the U.S., which says the group has ties to Al-Qaeda and harbors known terrorists, but others saw opportunity: perhaps the Islamists could finally end the bloodshed and bring a functioning government to Somalia...
...weeks on and those hopes are disintegrating quickly. Hardliners within the Islamic Courts Union have pushed aside moderates and appointed as their head a man the U.S. suspects of collaborating with al-Qaeda. Mogadishu locals, who had cheered the demise of the warlords, began to fret when their new Islamic leaders cracked down much as the Taliban did in its early days in Afghanistan: young men watching World Cup football from Germany were beaten, and men wearing long hair were forced to have it cut. Talks between the Islamists and the fragile interim Somali government - elected in neighboring Kenya more...
...Until we get the Islamic state, we will continue with the Islamic struggle in Somalia." SHEIKH SHARIF AHMED, chairman of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union, after Islamic militias overcame U.S.-backed warlords and seized control of the capital, Mogadishu, last week...
...parallels to the Taliban are obvious. Both groups swept to power under the banner of religion. Both promised to end the anarchy and bloodshed of the regimes they ousted. And both argue that Islam is the answer to their societies' problems. At a rally of hundreds of people in Mogadishu Tuesday, Sheikh Sherif said that the Islamic struggle in Somalia would continue "until we get the Islamic state...
...possible that Somalia's Islamic leaders may try to impose a hardline-style Islam on Mogadishu. Because the city has been off limits to most reporters and diplomats, it is difficult to tell what plans Mogadishu's new mayors have for the capital or the country beyond. In the letter Sheikh Sherif dismisses concerns that they "intend to establish an anti-U.S. and Western government in Somalia. This is not true. Such an agenda is against our objectives and goals since this would contradict our wish for there to be a peaceful Somalia...