* President says rebels forcing children to fight
* Islamist insurgents stone man to death for rape
By Ibrahim Mohamed
Sunday, June 28, 2009
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| Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sh. Ahmed- Photo HOL |
By Ibrahim Mohamed
MOGADISHU, June 28, (Reuters) - Somali President Sheik Sharif Ahmed accused hardline Al Shabaab Islamist rebels on Sunday of forcing children to fight in battles to oust his government in the Horn of Africa country.
Al Shabaab is seen as a proxy for al Qaeda in Somalia and includes foreign jihadists. It has carried out executions, floggings and amputations to enforce its authority, mainly in the southern Somali port of Kismayu.
The insurgents control most of southern Somalia and parts of the Horn of Africa nation's capital. Western nations fear they could destabilise the region and provide safe havens for hardline Islamists from elsewhere.
"The terrorist groups forcibly conscript children for soldiers and al Qaeda is involved in this, even their leaders have admitted that," he told reporters.
Violence from the Islamist-led insurgency has worsened this month, with a minister, the Mogadishu police chief, and a legislator killed.
On Sunday, ten masked al Shabaab men, who follow a strict version of sharia law, hurled large stones at a young man until he died, in the Middle Shabelle region.
"The culprit raped and killed an 18- year old girl... we sentenced him to be stoned to death according to Islamic rule," said Shiekh Abdul Baasid a local judge.
The Islamists cut a hand and a leg each off four teenagers as punishment for robbery on Thursday.
The government, which controls but a few parts of the capital, has declared a state of emergency.
Agencies say the spiralling violence in Mogadishu has killed more then 250 civilians, and 160,000 have been forced to flee over the past seven weeks.
Ahmed accused Eritrea of supporting hardline Islamist opposition leader Hassan Dahir Aweys, who leads one of the insurgent groups fighting the government.
"My ex-friend Hassan Dahir is on an irreversible path and he is accompanied by Eritrean officials. He is committing crimes against Somali people. I'm (urging)...him to retract from those acts," he said.
Aweys and Ahmed both led the Islamic Courts, which ruled Mogadishu and most of South Somalia for six months until opponents backed by the Ethiopian military allies expelled them in a two week war in January 2007.
Ahmed's government, though clearly weak, is seen by some as moderate and offering the chance of peace in a country that has been without central rule for 18 years. (Writing by Wangui Kanina; editing by Ralph Boulton)
Source: Reuters, June 28, 2009