Under Sharia Law in Kismayo,Somalia, Every Man is Mobilized for Jihad

Yusuf Ali of Garowe Online is again is serving as the propoganda mouth piece for the Islamic Courts Union and the Shabaab. You can read the full Story here, but he does provide an interesting look into what the Islaimists think life should look like under sharia law.
Mainly, that every man from 15 to 50 will be recruited as a fighter.

-Shimron

KISMAYO, Somalia Aug 26 (Garowe Online) - After years of militia violence, roadblocks and assassinations, the southern Somali port city of Kismayo is reportedly calm under the rule of a coalition of local clans and Islamist guerrillas.

• For the past two days, fighters who seized the strategic port town have been invited to feasts by the region’s traditional elders.
• Aqil Abdullahi Bile, a Kismayo-based clan chief, tells Radio Garowe that traditional elders are holding clan conferences as the first phase and are planning to hold an “all-clan gathering” soon.

“The second phase of the peace process is to bring together all clans,” the ‘Aqil told me during a telephone interview Tuesday.

• He pointedly stated that the traditional elders’ aim is to avoid marginalizing any of the local clans, especially the clan whose warlord-turned-parliamentarian, Col. Barre Hirale, was violently chased out of Kismayo after two days of fighting that claimed upwards of 50 lives.

The third phase of the peace process would involve a conference between Kismayo’s traditional elders – who represent the region’s various clan groups – and Islamist guerrillas who spearheaded the war to oust Col. Hirale and his militia.

• As part of the first phase, representatives from the Harti clan, including elders, religious persons and businessmen, held a private meeting and reached a three-point agreement, according to ‘Aqil Abdullahi.

“We agreed that Islamic [Shariah] Law is our constitution,” the ‘Aqil said. The other two points, he added, include an agreement that......

..... all men between the ages of 15 and 50 will be “recruited as fighters”......

and to invite Islamist fighters to feasts as a "show of appreciation."

He described the security situation in Kismayo as “100 percent safe,” adding that local businesses remained open until midnight.

Plane shooting

• On Tuesday, Islamist fighters standing guard at Kismayo’s airport shot at a small plane as it attempted to land.
• The airplane was “transporting a khat shipment,” according to airport sources, referring to a narcotic plant used widely across Somalia.
• One Islamist fighter who spoke with Radio Garowe on the condition of anonymity said the plane shooting “happened by accident." “Our men were not informed of an airplane that was supposed to land,” he said, adding: “When the plane attempted to land, they fired [bullets] but there was no damage and the plane flew away.”

Understandably, the security situation in Kismayo is tense, with Col. Hirale’s militia commander vowing to retake the town by military force during comments to the press.

Unconfirmed reports from Gedo region, where Hirale fled to safety, say the warlord was wounded in the leg as he fled Kismayo.

In Bardhere, an agricultural town in Gedo, Hirale’s militias are reorganizing while fighters loyal to al Shabaab are reportedly “in the outskirts of the town,” according to locals.

On Tuesday, business activity was minimal in Bardhere as buyers and sellers remained anxious about new security developments and feared an armed clash between al Shabaab and Hirale’s militias.

Yusuf Ali, managing editor GaroweOnline.com