Somali Islamist militiamen

raid wedding, beat woman

Days after a leading Somali cleric declared the death penalty for Muslims who failed to pray five times a day, militiamen loyal to the Islamic court cracked down on band music by raiding a wedding party in Mogadishu, confiscating instruments and beating a woman.

Twenty heavily armed men fired shots in the air and took musical instruments from the band performing in a home in Somalia's capital city yesterday. According to the Brisbane Courier-Mail, the band entertaining guests at the wedding party was told by the gunmen it was performing "satanic" music contrary to the Quran.

Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, head of the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts

Mogadishu was taken over in June by militia – now called the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts – that routed a U.S.-backed alliance of warlords after four months of fighting. The U.S. wanted to stem what officials call "creeping Talibanization" of Somalia by the courts and harboring of terrorists, including al-Qaida members.

"We were ordered to stop the music and empty the house which we all complied with immediately," said Hayir Ali Roble, one of the musicians performing at the party. "We followed their orders and kept our musical instruments in a room but they forcefully entered the house and took the instruments, and in the process broke some of them."

Roble said he did not know why the militiamen struck one of the women at the party with sticks.

The Islamic court denied that a woman was beaten.

Khadijo Weheliye, who organized the wedding party for her son, said she had sought and received permission from the Islamic court to have music at the celebration.

"We didn't know what their aim was because we had asked the Islamic court for permission to hold the party," she said. "They gave us a permission letter this morning, but attacked our home in the afternoon."

The raid was confirmed by the Islamic courts.

"We have told them to stop evil acts that derail the practice of Sharia law and it is our duty to enforce the ban on band music," said Ali Salad, the head of Ridwan Islamic courts in Weheliye's neighborhood. "We confiscated musical instruments that are satanic simply because we have previously told party organizers not to bring bands with music at the party."

On Tuesday, militiamen fired on a crowd protesting a ban on watching television, killing two who were viewing the World Cup at a local movie theater.

Earlier this week, WorldNetDaily reported that Muslims who fail to pray five times daily will be sentenced to death under the rule of Islamic clerics who have taken over the Somali capital Mogadishu.

"He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel, and Sharia law orders that that person be killed," said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia.

Today, 11 teens were publicly given 40 lashes each after confessing to "un-Islamic behavior," including smoking marijuana, pretending to be Islamic militia in order to extort the public, violence and looting.

"This is the start of a new era and we will continue to carry out the Sharia ... . We do not have any reverse gear," said Sheikh Mohamoud Jiliale, an official serving on the tribunal. "It is our responsibility to make sure Sharia laws are respected."

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