Amputations have already been carried out in Kismayo, south of Mogadishu

Monday, June 22, 2009

Hardline Islamists have condemned four young Somali men to a double amputation for stealing mobile phones.

They will each have a hand and a leg cut off after being convicted by a Sharia court in the capital, Mogadishu.

The al-Shabab group has carried out amputations, floggings and an execution in the port of Kismayo but such punishments are rare in the capital.

Al-Shabab and its allies control much of southern Somalia and are battling the UN-backed government.

The AFP news agency reports that hundreds of residents attended the hearing in northern Mogadishu.

Three mobile phones and two assaults rifles were displayed, which the accused had allegedly stolen.

"The defendants admitted the charges brought against them and were sentenced accordingly. Each one of them will have his right hand and left leg amputated publicly," said Judge Sheikh Abdallah al-Haq.

The punishments carried out in Kismayo have shocked Somalis, who traditionally practise a more tolerant form of Islam.

Source: BBC, June 22, 2009