Somalia to become an Islamic nation?

Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice and Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn., a hub for expatriate Somalis, said he was troubled by Aweys’ rise to power.

“The election of Aweys is a clear signal that the moderates are losing, and extremists are taking the lead, and now the next possible step is that they will impose a Taliban style of government,” he said, referring to the strict Islamic militia that was ousted by a U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

Underlining the apparent tougher line, militia leaders said Monday that they will publicly stone to death four suspected rapists if they are convicted in Jowhar, 55 miles from Mogadishu.

Concern in Washington
The appointment of Aweys as the group’s leader is likely to stoke Washington’s long-standing concern that Somalia will become a refuge for members of bin Laden’s terror network, much like Afghanistan did in the late 1990s.

The U.S. government previously accused the militia of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Aweys said Monday that he did not know of any terrorists in Somalia. “If we discover them we will take suitable steps against them,” he said.

His predecessor, Sheikh Ahmed, agreed last week to negotiate with the interim government, which was formed with U.N. help two years ago but failed to assert power. It’s based in Baidoa, 90 miles from Mogadishu.

The interim constitution adopted by the interim body makes no reference to Islam.

Aweys said Somalis want an Islamic state, and said he will raise the topic when he honors Ahmed’s agreement to meet with government leaders next month.

None of the militia leaders who voted for the change in leadership over the weekend publicly explained it. Ahmed, the previous leader, told the AP he was upset that news of the group’s restructuring had been leaked and said more changes were in the works.

Mogadishu resident Omar Gudle said the capital was tense.

“We are really scared. We don’t know what is going on,” he said. “Anything could happen.”

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