| How can you tell the difference? |
Gunmen sent by Islamic officials battled freelance militiamen for control of a lucrative checkpoint in the Somali capital on Tuesday, killing at least two people, including a three-year-old boy. Fighting began when gunmen loyal to three Islamic courts seized the checkpoint from militiamen operating near the main business district in Mogadishu, witnesses said. The illegal checkpoint, at a key road junction, was a lucrative source of revenue for gunmen who extorted money from drivers using the road.
| Somalia's a warrior society. Warriors don't have jobs. They have guns. Non-warriors are there to provide money to warriors. |
Nearly 100 gunmen using anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and assault rifles were involved in the battle, witnesses said.
| And only two people were killed, one of them a toddler? It's a warrior society, but they're not very good warriors... |
Gunmen loyal to the courts would remain at the junction to keep the militiamen away and guarantee the security of civilians, said Hersi Lugey, a court spokesman. "We came here at the request of the local population and we will remain until we secure it," Lugey said.
| "They can pay us for awhile..." |
Somalia has had no effective central government since a rebellion ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, transforming the nation of 7 million people into a patchwork of battling fiefdoms. A transitional federal parliament, whose members include Somalia's main warlords and which is supported by the country's traditional leaders, was formed last month. It has a five-year term. Members of parliament are scheduled to elect a president Oct. 10. The president would nominate a prime minister to form a government.
| The warriors will them attempt to bump him off, though they'll probably miss and hit a few kiddies... |
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