NAIROBI, Kenya, June 25, 2009
Somali Rebels Cut Off Thieves' Hands, Feet
Islamists Enforce Harsh Shariah Law In Show Of Power
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Four men sentenced to have a hand and foot cut off stand in a square in north of Mogadishu, Somalia, Monday June 22, 2009. The Somali Islamic militant faction Alshabab carried out amputations on Thursday on the four young men accused of stealing pistols and mobile phones from Mogadishu residents in a show of authority that the Western-backed Somali government condemned but was apparently powerless to stop. (AP Photo)
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Fast Facts Somalia Learn about the people, economy and history.
The punishments were the latest sign that insurgents wield the real power in the lawless African nation, where the embattled, Western-backed government is struggling to survive. Thursday's amputations were all the more audacious because they were carried out in Mogadishu, where the administration still has nominal control.
"The men were bleeding and crying when the man cut their hands and feet off with a long knife," said one witness, Liban Ali, among hundreds of people who gathered at a military camp in Mogadishu to watch the punishments. Another witness said a medical team was there to immediately treat the men.
The men were estimated to be between 18 and 25.
The Shariah court that carried out the sentences is run by al-Shabab, which is trying to topple Somalia's government and install a strict form of Islam. Hundreds of foreign fighters from countries including Pakistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia are reinforcing the group's ranks.
The U.S. considers al-Shabab a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda, which al-Shabab denies. The group controls much of Somalia and its fighters operate openly in the capital.
The government appeared to have no authority to stop the punishments.
"All I can say for now is that it was a violation against human rights and a sentence carried out by criminals," Somali Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamud said when asked to comment on the amputations.
Amnesty International condemned the punishments, saying they amount to torture and defy international law.
"The horrific nature of such acts that were carried out in front of a crowd adds further injustice," said Tawanda Hondora, the deputy director of Amnesty International's Africa program.
A strict interpretation of Islamic law calls for amputation for crimes of theft. Convicts in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria's Muslim north have received such sentences, although they are rare.
Somalis traditionally observe Sufi Islam, a relatively moderate form of worship. But in recent years, insurgents have begun to follow austere Wahabi Islam - rooted in Saudi Arabia and practiced by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.
Wahabism is a component of jihadi Salafism, a doctrine that preaches spreading a strict interpretation of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, through violence.
Islamist fighters have controlled Somalia before. In 2006, the Council of Islamic Courts ruled much of southern Somalia and the capital for six months of relative calm. But critics likened the group to the Taliban, saying they terrified Somalis into submission with punishments such as stonings and public executions.
In early 2007, troops from neighboring Ethiopia helped the government drive out the Islamists, but they soon launched a bloody insurgency, which is continuing.
Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. A moderate Islamist was elected president in January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence has continued, unabated.
A surge in violence in recent weeks, which diplomats said is a major push by the insurgents to force the government out of its Mogadishu strongholds, has killed about 225 people.
Last week, the national security minister and Mogadishu's police chief were among those killed.
The country's lawlessness has spread security fears around region and raised concerns that al Qaeda is trying to gain a foothold in the Horn of Africa. The anarchy has also allowed piracy to flourish off the country's coast.
Somali lawmakers pleaded this weekend for immediate international military intervention from countries including Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti to help quash the insurgency.
But there was no indication reinforcements would be forthcoming. Kenya has said it will not send troops, while Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said he has not ruled out sending forces back into the country, but there were no plans to do so now. Ethiopia withdrew its troops in January after an unpopular, two-year presence.
The Washington Post, citing an anonymous U.S. official, reported Thursday that the United States has sent a shipment of weapons to the Somali government, suggesting the Obama administration wants to thwart an Islamist takeover.
The U.S. has avoided sustained military action in Somalia since it led a U.N. force that intervened in the early 1990s in an effort to fight famine. That mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including a battle in Mogadishu that killed 18 American soldiers.
Some 159,000 people have fled their homes since May 7, according to the U.N. refugee agency. The United Nations says an estimated 3.2 million Somalis - almost half the country's population - need food and other humanitarian aid.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also said Ensign, R-Nev., violated ethics and campaign finance rules by failing to report a severance payment to the woman as an in-kind contribution from his campaign or leadership political action committee.
Ensign acknowledged last week that he had a consensual affair with a campaign staffer from December 2007 through August 2008. The group followed through Wednesday on an earlier announcement that it would be filing a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee.
ADD THIS CRIMINAL TO THE LIST,
SANFORD, VITTER, CRAIG, DAVID DUKE, REPUBLICONS ARE ANTI AMERICAN SCUM
Although they think they are scaring people into obedience, they are marking themselves for torture and punishment and uniting people against them. They may be the law for the moment. But it won't last.
And that?s why the public plan is an important part of reform: it would help keep costs down through a combination of low overhead and bargaining power. That?s not an abstract hypothesis, it?s a conclusion based on solid experience. Currently, Medicare has much lower administrative costs than private insurance companies, while federal health care programs other than Medicare (which isn?t allowed to bargain over drug prices) pay much less for prescription drugs than non-federal buyers. There?s every reason to believe that a public option could achieve similar savings.
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So Mr. Obama and Democrats in Congress have to hang tough ? no more gratuitous giveaways in the attempt to sound reasonable. And reform advocates have to keep up the pressure to stay on track. Yes, the perfect is the enemy of the good; but so is the not-good-enough-to-work. Health reform has to be done right.
INSURERS ARE THIEVES
What I saw happening over the past few years was a steady movement away from the concept of insurance and toward "individual responsibility," a term used a lot by insurers and their ideological allies. This is playing out as a continuous shifting of the financial burden of health care costs away from insurers and employers and onto the backs of individuals. As a result, more and more sick people are not going to the doctor or picking up their prescriptions because of costs. If they are unfortunate enough to become seriously ill or injured, many people enrolled in these plans find themselves on the hook for such high medical bills that they are losing their homes to foreclosure or being forced into bankruptcy.
here is another group of ''americans'' that need to visit Somalia
Sanford's move came as questions mounted whether he had used public funds to pursue a yearlong affair with the woman.
His admission of marital infidelity during a tearful news conference on Wednesday likely ended chances he might be a Republican contender for the U.S. presidency in 2012.
maybe this guy needs a dose of this reality
this is not a christian nation, Obama did not dishonor anyone, and the bush/cheney crime family is responsible for this because for the last eight years they ignored most of the worlds problems in favor of creating more wealth for big corporations and for themselves.
conservative are anti american fascists
Obama was 100% correct in his statement.
You are not likely to see what you ignore or refuse to acknowledge.
WHEN BUSH/CHENEY STARTED TO TORTURE PEOPLE WE BECAME THE TERRORISTS
It is also about intimidation, when it is made public.
I find it fascinating that the "peaceful" Islamic world at large are either completely silent or totally unwilling to police such behavior they consider to be out of the norm for their religion. Why is that I wonder?
The necessary support from external sources to impose this on local people indicates that it is not sustainable from inside the country - or it would be supported accordingly.
As usual, where is the rest of the world's outrage and willingness to do something about it?
The world should be worried about this, they WILL take over Somlia, if something isn't done.
But hey, it's ok. The liberals don't want to talk about it.
We only see righteous, moral indignation from the far left when it involves waterboarding. Cutting off hands and feet is just fine for taking a cell phone. I mean that cell phone was probably destine to be used for an obscene phone call.
No wait, replace that with causing a genocide in Iraq.
Give me a break...
THE REAL QUESTION IS , WHY, AFTER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS OF UN AMERICAN ACTIVITY FROM THE GOP, WOULD ANY AMERICAN STILL SUPPORT THESE ANTI
AMERICAN ANIMALS, THESE REPBLI'CON' FASCISTS, WHY????
PERHAPS YOU ARE NOT AN AMERICAN? I BET THAT IS IT, JUST LIKE BUSH
YOU ARE NOT A REAL AMERICAN,
What did the Bush administration do about Somalia?
Thought so.
Don't you like being shown up as the liberal that wants everything his way, without reason ? We waterboard 3 terrorists and it's the liberals crying because Bush won't be tried for War Crimes.
Four theives get a hand and a foot taken off for a cell phone, and not a peep out of the liberals.
You look for ANY EXCUSE to defend your liberal point of view, I just point out facts.
But at least I can believe you are a liberal. mcintoshlou is just a troll.
But the non-religious side of me would use any physical means necessary to save a member of my family from harm. So I won't get on a soapbox about "alternative questioning methods"..
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