May 25, 1996
Islamic courts and "parties of God" are mushrooming in the anarchy of war-shattered Somalia, where a militant and politicised Islam looks set to meld the clans opposed to senior warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid.
The vast majority of Somalis are Sunni Moslems, and traditional genealogies make them direct descendants of members of the tribe of the prophet Mohammed.
The British named a local hero who fought against their rule the "mad mullah".
General Aidid himself in 1993 injected a religious dimension into his finally victorious combat against the American troops of the UN operation who were hunting for him. His ragged militia used to give the war cry "God is great !" when they attacked.
The Vatican was among many authorities who feared that international intervention dominated by the Americans would stir up strong fundamentalist feelings. The Roman Catholic cathedral in the capital Mogadishu was destroyed in several bomb attacks.
But religion and the possession of a single language have never enabled Somalis to avoid clan divisions or to move beyond them. A year after the UN operation wound up, Aidid's foes are attempting to buttress their precarious alliances by giving prominence to Islam, with some saying the Koran should become the country's constitution.
A local journalist commented that the "clan chiefs have no solution and hope Islam will provide it. But clannishness remains stronger".
Sharia, or strict Islamic law, is all-pervasive in northern Mogadishu, the fief of Aidid's main rival Ali Mahdi, who terms himself "interim president".
The leading enforcer is Sheikh Ali Sheikh Mahmud, 51, who keeps constant watch and metes out punishment. He has a guard corps of 80 young militiamen who drive around in the dreaded "technicals", trucks bristling with fearsome heavy weaponry.
Near the old port, Mahmud has hundreds of soldiers in a camp which is out of bounds to the press, and he has armed men at checkpoints all over town. It is estimated he could assemble several thousand armed men in northern Mogadishu.
Other Islamic courts are in the Medina enclave of the south of the capital, in the Belet Huen region facing Ethiopia, and the port town of Kismayo in southern Somalia. One was set up in Mogadishu specifically to fight "enemies of Islam" after a serious incident towards the end of April when Aidid militia opened fire on the principal mosque, killing one person and wounding seven.
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