Washington has sent weapons to Somalia's government to thwart Islamist insurgents, who cut hands and feet off thieves on Thursday and paraded the severed limbs in the streets of Mogadishu. Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents are seen as a proxy for al Qaeda and Western nations fear they could destabilise the region and provide safe havens for hardline Islamists from abroad. When a moderate Islamist was elected president in January, there was hope he could end nearly two decades of bloodshed in Somalia by reconciling with hardliners who want to impose a strict version of Islamic law across the country.