New Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed bowed yesterday to demands from Islamist insurgents after the fiercest clashes since he took office, agreeing to a truce and the introduction of Shariah law.
Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel leader who was elected president on Jan. 31, said he had accepted proposals by local and religious leaders mediating between his government and the hardliners.
“I met with religious leaders and elders and accepted their demand for ceasefire and reconciliation with the opposition members and I call on all opposition parties to halt the unnecessary violence,” Ahmed told reporters. “The mediators asked me to introduce Islamic Shariah in the country and I agreed.”
Hardline Shebab militia and other Islamist fighters have waged battles against the government and its allies since and before Ahmed came to power, vowing to fight until all foreign forces withdraw and Shariah law is imposed.
At least 30 people were killed this week in the bloodiest clashes since the president, a moderate Islamist, was elected.
African Union (AU) peacekeepers, who are constantly under attack from Islamist insurgents, are the only foreign troops left in the country after Ethiopian soldiers pulled out last month.
“We asked the president to implement Islamic Shariah in the country and accept mediation,” said Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, chairman of Somalia’s Union of Islamic Scholars and one of the mediators. “He agreed and we hope this will end the violence in the country.”
The proposal to introduce Shariah law must still be ratified by Somalia’s parliament.
Ahmed became president following a UN-brokered reconciliation in Djibouti that aimed to try and bring some kind of stability to the Horn of Africa state after years of unrest.
After his Islamist movement was ousted in early 2007 by Ethiopia-backed Somali forces, Ahmed formed an opposition umbrella that later entered into peace talks with the Somali transitional government.
The Islamist forces opposed to the UN-sponsored reconciliation bids have launched several deadly attacks against the government and AU forces in recent days.
The attacks were seen as a warning to Ahmed, who has vowed to stabilize Somalia.
The Shebab also claimed responsibility for a suspected suicide attack against AU troops in Mogadishu that killed 11 Burundian peacekeepers yesterday.
Last month, they took control of the south-central Baidoa town, which hosted the transitional federal parliament after Ethiopian troops withdrew.
When in power in 2006, the Islamists introduced a strict form of Shariah and carried out executions, shut movie theaters and photo shops, banned live music, flogged drug offenders and harassed civilians, mainly women, for failing to wear appropriate dress in public.
They also banned foreign music, romances between unmarried teens, all commerce and public transport during prayer times and decreed that Muslims who do not pray daily can be punished by death.
Upon his election, Ahmed vowed to build an inclusive government, reach out to hardline groups and bring Somalia back into the regional fold.
On Saturday, he said the new government of 36 ministers had moved back home to Mogadishu after beginning its work in exile in Djibouti.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
RSS