Mogadishu's most senior Muslim cleric, Sheikh Nur Barud, called on Somalis to crush secular resistance to the imposition of Sharia law and to reject warlord efforts to garner support by appealing to clan and tribal loyalties.
"All Somalis must defend the Islamic courts because this is not inter-clan fighting, but war with the infidels," he said in an address aired by local radio stations.
"We are against those who want to make this war appear like inter-clan fighting," Barud said. "This fighting is between those who support Islam, and godless invaders and those who support them."
I guess this senior cleric didn't get the memo that Islam is a religion of peace.
Shortly after the overthrow of Afghanistan I can recall hearing rumours of special forces activity in Somalia and for a time it seemed that attention in the war on terror would be focused there. A few years on and the situation has dramatically worsened- and soon Islamist terrorists might have a new safe haven from which to plan and train for their attacks. Pundits proclaimed massive coalition casualties just before troops went into Baghdad; those fears were never realised. If action has to be taken against Mogadishu, I don't think we'll be so lucky again.
No comments:
Post a Comment