Tensions Mounting Between Somali Islamist Groups

Tensions between Somalia's moderate Islamist Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a group and the radical al-Shabab movement are mounting, following the murders of at least four Ahlu-Sunna clerics in recent weeks. Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a spokesman, Sheik Abdirahman Abu Yusuf condemned al-Shabab leaders, whom he says are sending out young assassins to target clerics in his Islamist organization. The spokesman says in the past week, al-Shabab killed Sheik Ali Afyare in the central Somali town of Galkayo and another cleric in Beledweyne, near the Ethiopian border. Abu Yusuf says al-Shabab should never be referred to as an Islamist group because they commit un-Islamic acts.Sheik Ali Afyare was the most prominent of four Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a religious leaders, who have been killed in Somalia in the past month. Two other clerics were shot to death last month in a town outside of the capital Mogadishu. ..more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-06-voa45.cfm?rss=war%20and%20conflict