Islamist militiamen on patrol in Mogadishu:

Islamic militias guard 8 tonnes of khat as it burns, background, after it was confiscated by the Islamic courts, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006 in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Hundreds of boys, men and women demonstrated on Thursday against a ban on a leafy stimulant, khat, by Islamic courts officials who have imposed a strict interpretation of the Quran in southern Somalia. They also protested the burning of several consignments of khat, imported normally

Mogadishu, Somalia , November 17, 2006 – Many have held that the light drug khat is the main misfortune of Somali culture, but banning it overnight was not even a realistic option for the many women seeing their marriage and economy ruined by khat-chewing husbands. The Mogadishu Islamists are trying just this, resulting in popular unrest and a first real challenge to their power.

Until recently unknown outside the African Horn region, khat is currently banned in country after country around the world after refugee hosting countries observe their growing Somali immigrant society succumbing to apathy and disintegration. Somali women started the global drive, demanding action to stop their men from wasting time and money on the light narcotic.

In Somalia, banning khat has been unthinkable as it has grown into a key element of male culture. Chewing khat is done throughout the day, mostly as a natural part in all social gatherings. While stimulating talk and suppressing appetite in the moment, it causes insomnia, apathy, anxiety and heart problems over the long run.

The Somali Islamist movement - the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) - nevertheless sees khat chewing as immoral and anti-Muslim. Holding that stimulants such as alcohol, tobacco and any kind of narcotics is incompatible with Islam, the Islamist represent a rigid an unusual interpretation of the Holy Quran, which explicitly only bans alcohol.

Many of the courts forming the Islamist front - but being relatively autonomous in their ruling - have now started banning or acting against khat, causing violent reactions. The Islamic court in the traditionally liberal southern port town of Kismayo is one of the country's most radical and was first to totally ban the tobacco and khat trade. People found smoking or chewing khat in public have already been lashed, residents report.

In Mogadishu, where the local courts yet have to herald a total ban of khat, a sudden attack on the narcotic's trade by the Islamist militia yesterday caused upheaval. Armed Islamists seized the first consignment of khat entering the capital in four days and burnt it in public. Khat supply has been scarce since Monday, as the main producing country, Kenya, had banned all flights to Somalia for "security reasons".

The uncompensated attack on Mogadishu khat traders, which according to them had no legal basis, immediately caused riot in the city. A demonstration was organized by the traders - mostly women who make a living by selling the plant leaves. As the protesters were gaining momentum and large crowds joined the demonstration, the Islamist militia reacted with violence.

Mogadishu residents say that the Islamists started shooting at the unarmed crowd, wounding several protesters. A 13-year-old boy was killed by the Islamist militia and several bleeding persons were left on the street as the crowd rapidly dispersed.

Fearing that the shooting will cause further unrest and noting the popular discontent, the Islamists today imposed an indefinite overnight curfew in Mogadishu. To amend the legal situation to the fact crated on the ground by the Islamist militias, the courts today heralded they "have forbidden the import of khat" according to a statement by Court leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

The Islamists' sudden attack on the khat trade nevertheless is developing into the first challenge to their popular support in a city they helped restore to law and order after 15 years of chaos. Mogadishu residents mostly had accepted stricter limitations on dress codes, sexual segregation, foreign entertainment and freedom of expression. Several Taliban-style rulings by the courts were accepted as the price for security, law and order.

But the ban of khat seems to provoke more serious resistance and bad feelings among Mogadishu residents. The radical Islamist militias - which are gradually taking on more powers while sidelining some of the more moderate clerics originally in charge in Mogadishu - are seen as sidestepping the law and the clerics' rulings at gun-point. While Mogadishu men mostly disagree to a banning of khat, they are currently most upset because the effectuated ban had not been announced.

The khat consignment burnt on Thursday is said to have had a market value of around US$ 40,000 and the mostly poor khat traders were not to be given any compensation. "Most of these people have no other means of making a living," a local source complained, questioning whether the Islamist militias still could say they were upholding law and order, or just imposing their own order at gun-point.

Popular resentment with the new Islamist militias taking over power from the courts was expected to increase as violent attacks on civilian protests go on. As hardliners from the formerly defeated al-Itihaad terrorist group and ex-warlords are taking over the real power in Somalia's Islamist movement, the khat fight is rapidly turning into a fight symbolizing general resistance to the new rulers.