Somalian Islamists kill Worl Cup viewers
Amal | 07.07.2006 23:39 | Anti-racism
Two people are reported dead after Islamist gunmen in central Somalia opened fire in a cinema where people were watching a banned World Cup match.
The cinema owner and a young girl were reportedly killed by militia loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts, who seized control of parts of Somalia last month.
The courts have introduced Sharia law, including in some areas a World Cup broadcast ban.
Somalia has had no effective central government since 1992.
According to reports on a Somali news network, gunmen arrived to close down the cinema in the town of Dhuusa Marreeb in central Galgadud district, where a crowd had gathered to watch the Germany-Italy World Cup semi-final.
Some of the football fans began to protest and according to reports, the gunmen fired in the air in an attempt to disperse them.
When this failed, shots were fired at the demonstrators and two people were killed.
The introduction of Islamic law, or Sharia, has included in some areas a ban on cinemas and on broadcasts of World Cup games because they have carried advertisements for alcohol.
The courts now control much of southern Somalia, introducing a level of civil administration and justice which the country has not seen for the past 15 years.
The BBC's Hassan Barise says in more than a decade of Islamic justice in the capital, there have been more than 16 amputations - the punishment for theft - in that time.
But there have been no confirmed amputations or stonings to death - for murder or rape - in the month since the Islamists seized the capital.
The courts have introduced Sharia law, including in some areas a World Cup broadcast ban.
Somalia has had no effective central government since 1992.
According to reports on a Somali news network, gunmen arrived to close down the cinema in the town of Dhuusa Marreeb in central Galgadud district, where a crowd had gathered to watch the Germany-Italy World Cup semi-final.
Some of the football fans began to protest and according to reports, the gunmen fired in the air in an attempt to disperse them.
When this failed, shots were fired at the demonstrators and two people were killed.
The introduction of Islamic law, or Sharia, has included in some areas a ban on cinemas and on broadcasts of World Cup games because they have carried advertisements for alcohol.
The courts now control much of southern Somalia, introducing a level of civil administration and justice which the country has not seen for the past 15 years.
The BBC's Hassan Barise says in more than a decade of Islamic justice in the capital, there have been more than 16 amputations - the punishment for theft - in that time.
But there have been no confirmed amputations or stonings to death - for murder or rape - in the month since the Islamists seized the capital.
Amal
Homepage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5150118.stm
Comments
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Wickedness 1989 - 2006. Somalia & Liverpool
08.07.2006 02:23
We in the UK would never harm our football fans like that, er, oh, hold on........
We just crush them to death and say that they killed each other, and later on, promote the police who killed the fans by negligence and, in some cases, actually threw them back over fences to face the horror of the pens 3 and 4.
Remember Hillsborough?
Before we accuse all Muslims of being the scum of the Earth, remember that Turkey, a Muslim country, never harmed one Liverpool fan when we went there. Everyone praised the locals and football there is as big as it is here.
Muslims love football, and we will likely as not see a few Muslims kicking a ball into the back of the net in the UK soon on a pro level. I bet my life if any Muslim tries to ban football in the working class parts of the UK, they will be laughed out of town.
The Muslims in Somalia were in effect the de facto police for the area. Salafist or Wahhabi extremists whose interpretation of the Koran and Hadiths is impossible seems as most are barely educated.
I offer my prayers for those poor people killed and their families.
I hope the Islamic Courts will make sure that the families are compensated, the survivors compensated - and that the killers are bought to trial.
Say what you will, if they can do that, it is more than the UK can do for its own people. I refer you to the link to the Hillsborough Disaster website to make up your mind on that regard, but everyone who I know who has studied the issue agrees there has been a cover up.
PS - I made this post as I realise it will likely turn into the usual Muslims are terrible post and thought I'd argue that we ought to look at our own mistreatment of football fans before we get all high and mighty imagining that the Somalians.
Regards from Liverpool
Eyes Higher
Sentencing preferences?
08.07.2006 05:03
You sound like a bit of a fan of the Sharia courts system. Would you rather see them killed outright or sentenced to, say, 120 hours of community service?
No to the barbarism of Sharia