Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Lawmakers said they needed more time for details of a first anti-terrorism bill for the country, which has yet to emerge from clan conflict and chaos that erupted once an authoritarian regime was ousted in 1991.
"This is a very crucial bill which should be properly and adequately addressed by Somali MPs," lawmaker Ahmed Hasi told AFP.
As well as the death penalty, the bill also proposes life and long-term prison sentences and confiscation of property for suspected terrorists, according to the government, which sits in the provincial town of Baidoa.
"Anybody who assists, trains, or provokes terrorists will receive one or more of the above mentioned punishments," the bill said.
It also bans the use of symbols, flags, and teaching used by known terrorist organisations, without specifying which groups.
Already endorsed by the council of ministers, the bill is now due to be voted on at the weekend.
The Somali capital Mogadishu has seen a rise in insurgent attacks and fighting since joint Somali-Ethiopian forces ousted a powerful Islamist movement late last year.
In January, US forces deployed heavily armed AC-130 gunship airplanes to carry out at least two air strikes in southern Somalia against suspected Al-Qaeda members.
Source: AFP, Feb 28, 2007