Islamists to stone 5 rapists

2006-06-27 08:52

Mogadishu - Somalia's newly powerful Islamists said on Monday they would stone to death five rapists, in what some feared was the latest sign of a plan to install a hardline Islamic authority like Afghanistan's Taliban.

The punishments, like others carried out by the Islamists in their sharia courts in the capital Mogadishu and elsewhere, followed the naming of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys - on a United Nations list of al-Qaeda associates - to a top post over the weekend.

Aweys, a former army colonel who in the 1990s led militant Islamists in failed campaigns in Somalia, but had denied any al-Qaeda links, was named head of the Council of Islamic Courts.

US will have no contact with Aweys

Sean McCormack of the state department said the United States would have no contact with Aweys, but had made no decision about relations with the group as a whole.

McCormack said: "Of course we are not going to work with somebody like that and of course we would be troubled if this is an indicator of the direction that this group would go in.

"But, again let's wait, let's see what the collective leadership of this group does."

The council was a parliament for the Islamists, whose well-trained militias seized Mogadishu from US-backed warlords on June 05 after months of fighting that killed at least 350.

The rapists were to be stoned to death in Jowhar.

Men plead guilty to rape

Siyad Mohamed, a militia leader linked to Islamic courts, said: "Five men who raped four women on June 22 will be stoned to death today (Monday) in accordance with the Islamic sharia. They have pleaded guilty to the crime and also have been identified by the victims."

Mohamed later said the execution had been delayed as the courts looked to arrest a sixth suspect. He said it was not clear when the sentences would be carried out.

The Islamist victory dealt an embarrassing public setback to Washington's counter-terrorism campaign, as its support for the much-despised warlords gave the Islamists popular backing.

Islamists want to end anarchy

The Islamists at first tried to present a moderate face to the world, saying they only wanted to end anarchy and restore peace lost since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.

One Western diplomat said Aweys' rise would likely close channels for dialogue with the West.

The diplomat said: "I think it demonstrates how secure they feel in their own right. They don't need international recognition, and they can do this because they have the upper hand."

The shooting of a Swedish journalist in Mogadishu on Friday also hurt the Islamists' claim to be pacifying the city.

Asked about the appointment of Aweys, Somalia's interim government was circumspect, a government spokesperson Abdirahman Dinari said: "It is the internal business of the courts."

- Reuters