| As if anyone would notice. |
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Militias of Islamic courts on Tuesday began pulling down stalls suspected of selling wine, marijuana and other drugs in Somalia's capital, a militia leader and an Islamic court official said. Witnesses said the militiamen also confiscated equipment from two video halls during their effort to enforce sharia - or Islamic law.
Six people have been arrested accused of dealing in wine, marijuana and other drugs prohibited under sharia, and militiamen allegedly found an unspecified quantity of drugs inside the demolished iron sheet stalls, said Mohamed Duale Hashi, a commander of the Islamic courts' militias in Mogadishu.
| Wonder if they arrested any of the qat sellers. |
Hashi said militiamen targeted drug dealers also because they were seen as responsible for robbery and insecurity at a busy road junction in southern Mogadishu.
Sheikh Ahmed Mo'alin Yusuf, a leader of the Islamic courts, said the demolitions are the beginning of an anti-drug campaign organized by the Islamic Courts Union. "We want to fight against every thing that can spread obnoxious misconduct within this Muslim community and the use of narcotics and other toxic drugs," he said.
Many Mogadishu residents rely on makeshift stalls to make a living selling different goods.
Somalia has not had a government or a functioning economy since forever warlords ousted long-standing dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. |