Islamic militia expands in Somalia

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BELET WEYNE, Somalia -- An Islamic militia that controls most of southern Somalia is now expanding into the center of this Horn of Africa country, imposing order after years of anarchy but also sparking worries of an emerging Taliban-style regime.
One of its Islamic courts has been governing this central town for less than a week, operating out of a crumbling stone building furnished with green plastic chairs, but already its leader is envisioning greater things.
"The world better learn who we are," Sheik Farah Moalim told The Associated Press in an interview this week at his headquarters in Belet Weyne, capital of the Hiran region. "This is just the beginning stage."
Just 25 miles from the Ethiopian border, Belet Weyne is among the most important towns seized this month by militiamen loyal to the Supreme Islamic Courts Council, which is setting up regional courts to rule based on the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
The group's strict and often severe interpretation of Islam raises memories of Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which was ousted by a U.S.-led campaign for harboring Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida fighters. U.S. officials accuse the Somali group of harboring al-Qaida bombers.
But here and in other parts of Somalia, many people credit the Islamic courts with restoring order to a nation that had seen little more than violence and lawlessness for 15 years.
Moalim said the Islamic council will eventually set up courts throughout Somalia and warned it will not tolerate foreign interference - particularly from Ethiopia. The latter has vowed to "crush" the Islamists if they threaten Somalia's feeble, U.N.-backed interim government.
"For those who don't support us, we say stay away and don't support us. You don't have anything we are interested in," said Moalim, a 47-year-old Coca-Cola importer who kept a quiet, stern demeanor during the interview and refused to be photographed.
He denied allegations his group has links to al-Qaida. "In Somalia we do not have terror attacks. For those who are accusing us they should come up with full details," he said.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. The country descended into chaos, with rival warlords and clans ruling their areas by violence and with impunity.
A transitional government was formed two years ago with the help of the United Nations to lead Somalia out of the anarchy, but it failed to assert any power outside its base in Baidoa, 150 miles from the capital, Mogadishu.
Witnesses have reported seeing Ethiopian troops in Somalia to support the acting government, while that administration charged late Friday that 1,500 soldiers from Eritrea had entered the country in recent weeks at the invitation of the Islamic militia. Both nations, which are bitter rivals, deny having troops in Somalia.
The Islamic courts, meanwhile, have steadily expanded their power since seizing Mogadishu in June after months of fighting with an alliance of warlords. Hundreds of people were killed, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire.
Illustrating the new sense of order, a cargo ship docked at Mogadishu's main port Friday, the first such vessel to come in 11 years. Hundreds of people turned out to salute its arrival with tea, building materials and medical supplies.
Belet Weyne is a key military point because of its proximity to Ethiopia, which has sent troops here in the past to stop Islamists from taking power. The town also serves as a link between southern Somalia and the agriculturally rich central region.
The town's clan elders pledged loyalty to the Islamic courts months ago, but local leader Yusuf Ahmed Hagar refused to give up power. In early August, Islamic militiamen arrived and Hagar fled in one of Somalia's infamous "technicals" - trucks mounted with machine guns. He is widely believed to be in Ethiopia seeking reinforcements.
Last week, the court began operating out of Hagar's old headquarters, a peach-colored building surrounded by guards with machine guns. More than 200 cases, most of them property disputes, were filed this week and stacked in large pink folders to await hearings.
"Somalis will stand by the Islamic courts, there is no other way of life here," said Moalim.
He offered few details about what his administration will be like other than saying it will govern by "the will of the Somali people."
Indeed, many residents of Belet Weyne - a town of about 100,000 people, most of them farmers or herders - say they support the Islamic clerics because they have chased away "freelance militias" and checkpoints used to extort money.
"Now we have much more confidence. The Islamic courts say Islam will be the rule of law, that there will be a rule of law," said Abanur Sidi, 38, who has lived here nine years.
Nuurta Abdi, who was among more than 30 people in a line that snaked out the court's door, expressed gratitude there is finally an authority in town and said she wanted to report her husband for failing to support her.
"Before the court came here there was nothing I could do. But now I can come here," the 17-year-old said.
Still, many here are concerned the administration could become increasingly hard-line, which is what appears to have happened in Mogadishu. Last week, the capital's new leaders gave seven men 40 lashes each for using or selling marijuana and a woman got 11 lashes Thursday for selling cannabis, the first female to receive such a punishment under the Islamists.
Underlining their wariness, no one who expressed worries about the Belet Weyne court was willing to be quoted by name for fear of reprisals.

Associated Press writer Les Neuhaus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.