Analysis

Although the Islamic Courts of Mogadishu like to portray themselves as pious Muslims who have come to the rescue of Somalis, the fact is, many members of these courts are the same criminals who, for a decade and half, inflicted unspeakable horrors on the people of Mogadishu and South Somalia. Many of the leaders of the Islamic Courts, such as Hasan Dahir Aweys, Yusuf Indh Adde, Yusuf Mire, Adan Hashi Ayro, Gobale and Hassan Turki are warlords with rivers of blood on their hands. Some of them (Aweys, Ayro and Turki) are wanted for international terrorism. Others, such as Yusuf Indha Adde, are drug traffickers, as confirmed by the UN.

As much as they try to cover their true nature, the truth is coming out almost every passing day. The latest example of the savage criminality of these warlords-turned-Islamists is their execution of several wounded prisoners of war in a hospital in Buale, Jubba region.

It is noteworthy that the BBC Somali service which has been engaged in a massive propaganda campaign to project a positive image for Mogadishu’s Islamic Courts initially did not cover this horrific crime, and only did so after other Somali media, such as Haatuf, picked up the story, and even when the BBC finally mentioned this heinous crime, it only did so in a passing manner and gave a spokesman from the courts ample time to divert the charges and blame the victims. The BBC did not give any coverage to the demonstration in Abud Waq against the murder of the prisoners, nor did it mention the burning of a pile of Saudi Arabian turbans, like the ones worn by members of Mogadishu’s courts, in protest of those killings.