June 11, 2006

Somali anger over World Cup ban

By David Bamford
BBC Africa editor

Mogadishu street scene
Residents are pleased Mogadishu is now experiencing a period of calm
People in Mogadishu say an Islamist militia which has taken control of most of the city is preventing them from watching the football World Cup on TV.

Residents of the Somali capital say they are relieved the Islamist victory has led to calm and improved security.

But they say the militiamen have been forcing makeshift public cinemas which had been planning to show the football matches to close down.

The militia victory over rival warlords followed weeks of fighting.

'Corrupting'

Residents are angry at apparent moves by the militiamen now patrolling the streets to close down cinemas whose proprietors had arranged to show satellite television pictures of World Cup matches taking place in Germany.

It is not clear whether the new Islamist rulers in the city have a problem with people watching football.

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Their spokesman, Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, indicated to the BBC it was the cinemas that were being targeted because they also showed Western and Indian films that the Islamists say are corrupting to the young.

But all this comes just a few days after the head of the Islamic courts militia, Sharif Shaikh Ahmed, said the Islamists had no plans to impose Islamic law in Mogadishu, and wanted the Somali people to decide their own future.

He has also welcomed new US proposals to convene an international conference to discuss Somalia's future.

The clan warlords to whom Washington is suspected of providing clandestine support have been thoroughly routed, but remain holed up in north Mogadishu and in the nearby town of Jowhar.

The Islamists have urged them to surrender and negotiate in order to prevent a renewal of fighting.

Source: BBC News

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