Although the Islamic Courts Union — which held power in Somalia briefly in 2006, long enough to be hailed by the Western press despite its hardline Sharia brutality — no longer rules there, it is still a force to be reckoned with.
“Somalia PM Seeks Dialogue With Islamists,” by Salad Duhul for Associated Press (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s new prime minister will try to open a dialogue with Islamists to end an insurgency that a human rights group said has killed nearly 6,000 civilians so far this year, officials said Sunday.
Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, who formed his Cabinet on Sunday, has vowed to reconcile the nation as it struggles to contain the insurgency.
“The new prime minister will talk with Islamists and other opponents,” presidential spokesman Hussein Mohamed Mohamoud told The Associated Press. “That is the first priority.”
Ethiopia came to the aid of Somalia’s government last December to rout the Council of Islamic Courts militia. The Islamic group’s fighters have since launched an Iraq-style insurgency, and gunbattles, grenade and mortar attacks have decimated this seaside capital.
Numerous and repeated attempts at dialogue between the insurgents and the government have so far yielded no result….