By Guled Mohamed
Thursday, November 16, 2006
The Islamists fired at a highly-charged crowd made up mainly of khat dealers who took to the streets of the Bar Udah district of the Somali capital, burning tyres and throwing stones.
"One person was shot dead and two others have been wounded," an Islamist source who declined to be named told Reuters.
A Reuters witness said the crowd was later dispersed.
Since taking over Mogadishu and a swathe of southern Somalia in June, the religious movement has tried to outlaw khat trading and smoking, saying it encourages immorality.
But that has been unpopular with the Horn of Africa nation's many chewers of the leaf, and among traders who make a lively business importing khat from neighbouring countries.
"I saw them shooting at the crowd," resident Adan Ahmed said. "There were so many people."
Mogadishu airport's managing director Abdirahim Adan said the Islamists seized two tonnes of khat which was flown in.
The Islamists initially won praise for bringing relative order to Mogadishu after kicking out warlords. But Somalis say there is disillusionment with their hardline practices.
The Islamists have also closed public cinemas and, some Mogadishu residents say, enforced strict dress codes.
ETHIOPIAN TROOP MOVEMENT
Critics say they are Taliban-like extremists, who harbour al Qaeda-linked radicals. But Islamist leaders deny that, saying they only wish to bring back order via sharia law.
Heightening fears of a full blown war, witnesses said on Thursday heavily-armed Ethiopian troops propping up Somalia's government had briefly advanced towards Islamist fighters.
Tensions have risen between the two sides as the Islamists' rise has thwarted the interim government's aim to impose central rule on a country in chaos since 1991.
The Islamists are just 30 km (18 miles) away from the Western-backed government's sole outpost Baidoa, where residents say Ethiopian troops are protecting the government.
Residents said Ethiopian soldiers had moved out of a military camp on Wednesday and chased away local militia to man a checkpoint in Modmodey, a village within striking distance of the Islamists' lines in Buur Hakaba.
"On my way from Baidoa, I saw nearly 40 Ethiopian troops armed with heavy machine guns in Modmodey. They checked my car and then told me to proceed," resident Abdi Ahmed said.
But an Islamist fighter said the Ethiopians had retreated back to camp on Thursday: "Buur Hakaba is very calm now."
Ethiopia has denied sending troops to Somalia although it says it has sent several hundred armed military trainers there.
Peace talks between the government and Islamists stalled two weeks ago and many fear war could spread in the region.
A U.N report says at least seven African and Middle Eastern nations are providing arms and supplies to the Islamists and three are arming the government.
Syria's state news agency SANA on Thursday quoted an official source as denying Damascus, which was cited as an Islamist backer, gave military assistance to any Somali faction.
Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, also mentioned in the report as helping train Islamist fighters, denied the charges. "This news is baseless and has no credibility," a Hezbollah spokesman said in Beirut.
Source: Reuters, Nov 16, 2006