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Nairobi, November 7, 2009 –
Sacdiyo Sheeq used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her
mobile telephone.
But since hardline al Shabaab insurgents seized the southern Somali port
of Kismayu, the 25-year-old's life has changed.
"Al Shabaab wants our ringtones to be only a Muslim cleric reading the
Hadith or Koranic verse," she told Reuters.
"I used to listen to my favorite Indian songs on my cell phone, but now
I have just thrown that memory away."
Al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn
of Africa state, wants to topple the U.N.-backed government and impose
its own strict version of Sharia law.
The heavily armed group controls much of the south and parts of the
capital Mogadishu, and courts run by its clerics have ordered
executions, floggings and amputations in recent months.
It has also banned movies, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or
watching soccer in the areas under it control.
"We do not tolerate anything that may corrupt the people," al Shabaab's
spokesman in Kismayu, Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, told Reuters by telephone.
"We don't allow anything that goes against our religion, especially
music and sexy videos."
Ali Mahamud Yusuf, 19, fled his home in Kismayu after he was whipped in
public last week by al Shabaab gunmen who had caught him listening to
music and watching videos on his phone.
"I am still suffering from the 25 lashes," Yusuf said. "They accused me
of rejecting religion. I don't want to tell you where I am now for
security reasons. I am scared."
Fighting has killed 19,000 Somalis since the start of 2007, and while
some residents credit the insurgents with restoring a semblance of order
in some areas, al Shabaab's strict rules have alienated many Somalis who
are traditionally moderate Muslims.
But Kismayu residents said the rebel group's latest rules on mobile
phone ringtones posed yet another dilemma -- since the faithful are not
supposed to interrupt the Hadith (the word of the Prophet Mohammed), how
are they supposed to answer calls?
Source: Reuters, Nov 03, 2009
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