Islamic reign apparently over in Somalia

AP on Yahoo ^ | 1/2/07 | Elizabeth A. Kennedy - ap

[NormsRevenge]

MOGADISHU, Somalia - For hundreds of young men, the promise of a brighter future and the Somali government's victory over a fundamentalist Islamic movement were symbolized by a flickering blue screen in a dusty Mogadishu movie theater.

"This is freedom and entertainment," Ahmed Abdi Ali said Tuesday as an Indian movie about a torrid love triangle played — the kind of film that was banned by the Muslim militants. "The Islamic courts are gone."

For the first time in more than a decade, an internationally recognized government is operating in Mogadishu after driving out the Islamic courts movement that wanted to rule Somalia by the Quran. Although trouble is always lurking in this violent, gun-infested country, the reign of the widely feared Islamic courts appears to be over.

The group had imposed its strict interpretation of Islam on Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia since it took power in June, banning movies and Western music and terrifying residents into submission with the threat of floggings and public executions.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said his forces, backed by Ethiopian troops with tanks and MiG fighter jets, had neutralized the Islamists and forced them to give up or scatter into the bush. He said he does not expect any more major fighting.

"Maybe small fights can take place, but we are trying to destroy them," he said.

Still, bringing peace to Somalia is a daunting task. Until Ethiopia stepped in two weeks ago, the government controlled just one town, and many Somalis have little confidence in the administration's ability to pacify — much less rebuild — the country alone.

And the country is, indeed, in ruins. Mogadishu is a destroyed, desperate city after 20 years of civil war. Lamp posts that haven't been illuminated in years are pocked with bullet holes and shrapnel. Cathedrals, courthouses and homes have been bombed into rubble or dismantled brick by brick.

Gunshots ring out daily on city streets, and three warlords who once ruled the capital are back now that the Islamists are gone. Many fear the warlords are gathering their forces and might challenge the government.

Perhaps the most insidious threat is from an Iraq-style guerrilla war, which the Islamic group says it's planning with fighters it claims are hiding in Mogadishu.

"We will fight the Ethiopian forces in the country," Abdirahman Mudey, a spokesman for the Council of Islamic Courts, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday, reiterating his group's claim that Ethiopia is occupying Somalia.

Residents of a southern Somali border town said they witnessed Ethiopian military aircraft, believed to be pursuing Islamic fighters, bombing an unspecified area within Kenya on Tuesday.

"Four military helicopters flew over our town several times and bombarded somewhere on the Kenyan side of the border," said Mohamud Ilmi Osman, a resident of the town of Dhobley. Kenyan officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Somali government says the first step to establishing order is disarming the public, but the nation is awash in weapons: Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns, hand grenades and mortars are readily available at the Bakaara Market in the capital.

"These weapons are our business, our work," said Farhan Geede Hussein, a weapons dealer at the market. "We bought them, so it's impossible for us to just hand them over."

Gedi has given residents three days, starting Tuesday, to voluntarily surrender their weapons at two locations — the old seaport and Villa Baidoa, once a government building under the regime of dictator Siad Barre. But not one person was seen giving up arms at either site Tuesday during two separate visits, hours apart.

Ethiopian troops standing outside the crumbling white stone walls of Villa Baidoa said nobody had arrived and refused to allow reporters inside. At the seaport, a few people were milling around hoping to watch the disarmament, but left disappointed.

"No one is here," said Mohamed Ali, 28, gesturing across the rock-strewn road that leads to the shark-infested water. "No one is even here to collect the guns."

Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew Barre and turned on each other. The government was formed two years ago with the help of the United Nations, but was weakened by internal rifts.

The intervention of Ethiopia prompted a military advance that was a stunning turnaround for the government. But many Somalis resent the Ethiopians' presence. Somalia, a Muslim country, and Ethiopia, with its large Christian population, fought a brutal war in 1977.

The Islamic group's strict interpretation of Islam drew comparisons to the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan, although many Somalis credited the council with bringing a semblance of order to the country.

The ouster of the Islamists allowed men like Abdi Ali, who crowded the Mogadishu movie theater Tuesday, at least two hours of letting loose.

"This is a movie about two women chasing one man," he said, his eyes fixed on the screen. "If I couldn't watch this, I'd probably be sleeping right now."

[NormsRevenge]

A heavily armed Ethiopian soldier on the street of Kismayu, Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007. Somalia's prime minister said Tuesday that rival Islamic fighters have been scattered and that he does expect any more major fighting for control of the country. Government forces, backed by Ethiopian troops, were pursuing the remnants of an Islamic militia that until two weeks ago controlled most of southern Somalia and threatened to drive out the internationally-backed government. But Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said his rivals were scattered and that a group of them offered to surrender on Tuesday (AP Photo)

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747324/posts?page=1766#1766

[sageb1]

I guess you "gotta want it" badly enough to fight for it. If the Somali government and the Ethopians can do it, the next question would be can the Iranian dissidents do it? I know. I'm just dreaming.

[fishtank]

Praise the Lord for the brave soldiers of Prester John!!

[stboz]

One can hope that the former muzzie environs of Somalia are out in the bush somewhere dodging cobras and the United States Marines. Perhaps they even have the company of Zawahiri and Yomama.

It is a time to kill.

[rocksblues]

Gunshots ring out daily on city streets

Houston, TX has the same problem.

[fish hawk]

What's the chance of us hiring these Ethiopians for service in Iraq and then on to Iran?

[stm]

I will believe it when I see it. There are still a lot of Islamic tribes in that country. And with the frequency that regimes change there it may only be a number of months or a year before it changes.

If ever there was a country begging to be wiped slick and started over from scratch it's Somalia

[Brilliant]

As soon as the Ethiopians leave, it will be back.

[Just sayin]

The mainstream media may not be saying this in so many words but they are reporting something very interesting. Everywhere these Islamic radicals are stood up to, they run away like school bullies. Funny thing how standing tall for good drives evil to run and hide, huh? I bet it pains some to even be reporting this in the way they are.

After the Ethiopians leave we shall see how long the radicals wait before they try to resume where they left off.

[AdvisorB]

Can't you just hear the collective sigh coming from the leftist dingbats and their RAT friends.

[doc1019]

Islamic reign apparently over in Somalia … today. After they receive their checks from Iran, resupply, and reload, they will be back.

[31R1O]

Or one could say there is no limit to what can be accomplished if you don't have to be PC about it. Kudos to the Ethiopian Army. We could learn a thing or two by observing what and how they did it.

[Chode]

what the hell is that???

[nuconvert]

If the Somali government and the Ethopians can do it, the next question would be can the Iranian dissidents do it?

There is absolutely no comparison in these 2 situations.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

This is very good news indeed. Zarkawi (Osama's 2nd) just stated last week that Somalia was AlQuida's southern front.

[ReignOfError]

I guess you "gotta want it" badly enough to fight for it. If the Somali government and the Ethopians can do it, the next question would be can the Iranian dissidents do it?

It's a toehold. A precedent. The more important precedent is what happens in Iraq; the minute a pluralistic democracy can take root there is the minute reign of the Ayatollahs in Iran starts ticking down.

[marktwain]

And absolutely NO ONE in the old media will give President Bush any credit for this. Somalia was well on the way to becoming another Afghanistan. Suddenly, Ethiopia teams with the existing, weak Somali government to route them and turn things around. U.S. warships are off the coast to prevent an effective withdraw by the Islamists.

I think President Bush said that there would be victories that could not be stated in public.

[what's up]

U.S. warships are off the coast to prevent an effective withdraw

Pres. Bush turns Clinton's debacle around.