Parliament approves Islamic law in Somalia

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Somalias parliament unanimously approved Saturday a government proposal to introduce Islamic Sharia law in the country, in a move aimed at appeasing Islamists waging a civil war since 1991.
There were 340 members at the session and they voted unanimously for the implementation of Islamic Sharia in Somalia, parliamentary Deputy Speaker Osman Elmi Bogore told AFP.
Bogore, who presided over the debates in the absence of speaker Aden Muhammad Nur, said: The bill... is approved by the Parliament.... We have an Islamic government.
Somalias cabinet last month endorsed the plan to introduce Sharia, a key demand by Islamists who are opposed to the government and who made its application a precondition to stop fighting. Islamic Sharia is the only option to get solutions for the problems in this country, Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamoud told reporters March 10. This is a big day, we have been waiting this bill for a long time .... I hope this will decrease the violence in the country Muhammad Dhere, a Somali lawmaker, said after the vote.
On February 28 President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed agreed to proposals by local and foreign religious leaders for a truce with the hardliners and the implementation of Sharia. The Shebab militia have already imposed the law in areas of the war-torn country under their control.
Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president on January 31 following a United Nations-brokered reconciliation and vowed to form an inclusive government.
But the Shebab and other militia have continued to battle the government and its allies.
Clan fighting and rivalry have scuppered numerous attempts to restore stability in the country since it plunged into a civil war with the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre.
The Shebab, whose manpower was recently boosted with the arrival of some 300 foreign fighters, are also demanding the withdrawal of an African peacekeeping force of nearly 3,500 in the lawless Horn of Africa nation.
In 2006, when the Shebab briefly controlled Mogadishu and the centre of the country, they introduced Islamic law. It was initially welcomed by the public as it ushered in a measure of security after years of fighting and anarchy.
But the mood turned sour over strictures banning music and the chewing of khat, a mild narcotic plant with stimulant qualities which is extremely popular in Somalia.
In March, hundreds of angry bleary-eyed khat addicts in the town of Baidoa protested against the restrictions imposed on the leaf.
Demonstrators threw rocks at the Shebab forces vehicles and blocked some streets with burning tyres and tree trunks as the demonstration turned violent.
Somalias parliament is officially seated in Baidoa but the town, located some 250km south of the capital Mogadishu, was recently conquered by Shebab fighters.