- At least one person was killed on Thursday as forces belonging to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fired shots to disperse protesters in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, hours after the UIC had burnt a consignment of khat, a popular mild narcotic, a local source said.
The demonstration was organised by khat traders - mostly women who make a living by selling the plant leaves. "They [the traders] were angry that the courts have burnt the first consignment in four days," the source said. "Most of these people have no other means of making a living."
Since taking control of large areas of southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, in June and bringing relative peace, the UIC has taken an increasingly hard line on khat. According to the UIC, consumption of drugs such as khat, alcohol or tobacco is wrong for believers in Islam.
Kenya, which used to be a major source of the narcotic, banned flights to Somalia last weekend, citing security reasons. As a result, khat has become scarce in Somalia. The burnt consignment had come from Djibouti.
On Wednesday, the manager of the Somali Tobacco Company, Mahamud Abdullahi Weheliye, told reporters he had been officially informed by the UIC that his company and other tobacco traders should stop selling their products. "We are ready to obey all orders from the authority of the Islamic courts," he said. "They told us to stop tobacco trade. There are seven tonnes of Supermatch cigarettes in our stores; if they order us to burn our stockpiles we will do so."
But the UIC denied banning the tobacco trade. "There has been no order or decree issued by either the executive or the Shura [consultative council] branch of the Islamic courts, banning tobacco products," said Abdirahim Ali Mudey, the UIC’s head of communication and information.
Residents of Jilib and Kismayo towns further south, however, said people found smoking in public had been lashed. Those found consuming alcohol or hashish had been punished with 40 to 80 lashes or imprisonment.
Somalia has had no functioning government for 16 years. The transitional government formed in Kenya in 2005 and the UIC accuse each other of being supported by foreign forces intent on further destabilising the war-torn country.
Recent efforts to reconcile the two sides failed after they disagreed for the third time, in Khartoum on 31 October, over claims and counter-claims of foreign involvement in the country's problems.
On Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for talks to be resumed quickly. "We have a very serious situation in Somalia," Annan told reporters in Nairobi. "I would appeal to the Somalis to try to … continue the talks which began in Khartoum and honour their agreements. The talks which are now suspended should resume very quickly."
He called for non-interference in the country's affairs. "I urge neighbouring countries to avoid interfering in Somalia. It is already a difficult and volatile situation. We do not need to see it further complicated by neighbouring countries rushing in with troops or guns to support one side. It will only compound the problem."
On the role of the international community in helping Somalia resolve its problems, Annan added: "The people of Somalia have suffered for a long time. The international community will want to assist, but the Somalis have the primary responsibility and I hope they will really continue the talks.”
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