6 July 2006

MOGADISHU - Islamist militiamen raided a cinema in central Somalia where viewers were watching a World Cup football match in contravention of Sharia law, killing two people including the cinema owner, witnesses said Wednesday.

"The Islamic militia ordered the owner to turn off the television but he refused. Then they shot him in the leg and the chest," a local resident who identified himself only as Mohammed told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

A young woman was killed after the fans watching the Germany-Italy game played on Tuesday evening streamed onto the streets of Dhusa- Mareb to protest against the cinema owner's murder and express their anger at the ban.

Islamic courts have introduced Sharia law, including a ban on watching World Cup football matches, since defeating secular warlords and taking control of most of the country's southern regions last month.

The gunmen were apparently also angry that the fans had ignored Islamic dictates against men and women being together in public.

The incident happened just a few metres from the residence of the leader of the Courts, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a firebrand cleric wanted by the United States on terrorism charges.

"They know the law, they broke it and they were punished according to the law. We need to be disciplined because this town especially is in danger from attack by Ethiopia," Aweys said.

Dhusa-Mareb, a town bordering Ethiopia has a large Islamic militia presence. The Islamists accuse Ethiopia of sending troops across the border, a charge Addis Ababa has denied.

The anarchic Horn of Africa nation has not had a functional central government since the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

DPA

Subject: German news