Sharia Alert from AP:
MOGADISHU, Somalia – An increasingly powerful Islamic militia rolled through its newly captured territory and installed a religious court in one town Wednesday as the remnants of a U.S.-backed alliance of warlords desperately tried to regroup.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, have confirmed cooperating with the secular warlords, who charge the militia has links to al-Qaida.
The Bush administration has not confirmed or denied giving money to the alliance. President Bush warned this week that the chief concern “is to make sure that Somalia does not become an al-Qaida safe haven.”
… because the Bush administration would still like to believe that this global jihad business would go away if al-Qaida were eradicated.
“In terms of the Islamic courts, our understanding is that this isn’t a monolithic group that it is really an effort on the part of some individuals to try to restore some semblance of order in Mogadishu,” McCormack told reporters.
Just like Hamas’ rise to power was called a vote against corruption.
“The secular militia did not provide reliable security to this town. Now, we can rest assured the Islamists can improve the situation,” he said.
About 20 miles away in Jowhar, their last remaining stronghold, secular warlords took up defensive positions two days after being pushed out of the capital in a humiliating defeat that came despite U.S. support for their alliance, which has said it
wants to root out terrorists.
If militiamen capture Jowhar and consolidate power in Mogadishu, the Islamic Courts Union will effectively control all of the major towns in southern Somalia, further isolating the U.N.-backed transitional government in Baidoa, 155 miles from the
capital.