Word: shabaab
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...should Islamist rebels overthrow the embattled government, it was dispelled on June 22, when a militia court sentenced four men accused of stealing three mobile phones and two AK-47s to the amputation of their right hands and left legs. The sentence, whose execution was postponed after the al-Shabaab court decided the hot weather might cause the four men to bleed to death, was condemned as "cruel, inhuman and degrading" by Amnesty International. The incident highlighted both the kind of neighbor Kenya and Ethiopia might soon face and the question of whether either country should intervene to prevent such...
...Odinga agreed the situation in Somalia was "really threatening" and needed "urgent international attention." If Mogadishu falls, the consequences will be very grieving, he said. He also appeared to refer obliquely to al-Shabaab threats to attack Nairobi, saying, "Kenya has been affected by this obvious terror." Like Ethiopian leaders, however, Odinga stopped short of publicly committing troops. Reports from Somalia's western border with Ethiopia claimed that Ethiopian troops had entered Somalia on June 22, despite a statement from Addis Ababa that it would not enter the country without an international mandate. Ethiopia invaded Somalia in late...
...Shabaab, originally the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union - the government Ethiopia toppled in 2006-07 - also grew into something far more menacing during its resistance and eventual defeat of Ethiopian forces, attracting vocal support from Osama bin Laden, imposing the strictest Shari'a law and attracting hundreds of foreign jihadists from the Middle East, South Asia and the West to its ranks...
...troops pulled out in 2008, the two split. In January, Sharif formed a government that espouses Shari'a law but also seeks dialogue with the West. Aweys formed the more militant Hizbul Islam, which is seemingly opposed to any contact with the West. He also allies himself with al-Shabaab, originally the ICU's militia, which today, while publicly denying links to al-Qaeda, has managed to attract hundreds of foreign jihadis to its ranks. (See pictures of Osama bin Laden...
...Washington believes al-Shabaab still harbors two al-Qaeda bombers responsible for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and has launched air and missile strikes on suspected militants several times since early 2007, killing at least two Islamist leaders. Osama bin Laden makes frequent broadcasts urging Somalis to defeat Americans, Ethiopians and anyone with any connection to either. The stakes could hardly be higher, says analyst Hassan. "If these guys [the Islamists] succeed in taking over Somalia, they will create havoc in the entire continent. The world needs to act quickly...