Somali Taliban-Style Rebels Settle In

An Islamic court has been governing this central Somalia 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 just 25 miles from the Ethiopian border. "This is just the beginning stage."

Belet Weyne is among the most strategically important towns to be seized this month by militias loyal to the Supreme Islamic Courts Council, which already controls most of the south and has been expanding into central Somalia, setting up regional courts based on the Koran.

The group's strict and often severe interpretation of Islam has sparked fears of an emerging Taliban-style regime. But here and in other parts of Somalia, the Islamic courts are being credited with restoring order to a country that has seen little more than anarchy for 15 years.

Moalim, who is also a Coca Cola importer, said the council will continue setting up courts throughout Somalia and will not tolerate foreign interference — particularly from Ethiopia, which has vowed to "crush" the Islamists if they try to overthrow Somalia's feeble official government.

"For those who don't support us, we say stay away and don't support us," said Moalim, 47, who kept a quiet, stern demeanor during the interview and refused to be photographed. "You don't have anything we are interested in."

He also denied allegations that his group has links to al Qaeda. "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 soon descended into chaos, with rival warlords and clans ruling by violence and with impunity.

A government was formed two years ago with the help of the United Nations to help Somalia emerge from anarchy, but it has failed to assert any power outside its base in Baidoa, 150 miles from the capital, Mogadishu.

Late Friday, the transitional government's ambassador to Ethiopia complained to the African Union that 1,500 Eritrean troops and an assortment of weapons had arrived in his country in recent weeks.

The troops were invited in by the Islamic courts, said Abdikarin Farah, speaking to journalists at the AU's headquarters in Addis Ababa.

His comments are the latest in a tit-for tat exchange between arch rivals Eritrea and Ethiopia, stoking fears that their bitter rivalry may spill over into a new war in Somalia.

The Islamic courts have complained and eyewitnesses have said that Ethiopia has also sent troops into the country in support of the weak government.

Both countries have denied their troops are in Somalia.

The Islamic courts, meanwhile, have steadily gained power since seizing Mogadishu in June after months of deadly battles with an alliance of warlords. Hundreds of people were killed, many of them civilians caught in the crossfire.

Controlling Belet Weyne is vital from a military standpoint because of the town's proximity to Ethiopia, which has sent troops here in the past to stop Islamists from taking power. It also serves as a link between southern Somalia and the agriculturally rich central region.

The town's highly influential clan elders pledged their loyalty to the courts months ago, but local leader Yusuf Ahmed Hagar refused to give up power. In early August, Islamic militants 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 armed with machine guns. More than 200 cases, most of them property disputes, were filed this week and stacked in large pink folders to await a hearing.

"Somalis will stand by the Islamic courts, there is no other way of life here," said Moalim.
ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY ©