MOGADISHU: Two explosions inside Somali mosques kill nearly 50 people. Islamist militants raid a lucrative pirate haven before their rivals move in, sending pirates fleeing in luxury vehicles. Events in Somalia over the past week show a lawless country growing even more chaotic amid deepening divisions among militant groups.
A fissure has also emerged among members of Somalia's most powerful Islamist militia, al-Shabab, over whether to strengthen ties with al-Qaeda to encourage the flow of foreign fighters in the Horn of Africa country. Opponents to the idea, within the group, fear that focusing on global jihad could undermine al-Shabab's own struggle in Somalia by alienating domestic supporters.
The weak Somali government controls only a small bit of the capital, Mogadishu, and is battling Islamic insurgents. The lawlessness has allowed the piracy trade to flourish off Somalia's coastline.
In a sign that the rifts among the militant groups may be deepening, a group called Hizbul Islam sent fighters to the pirate haven of Haradhere last weekend in an effort to take over the town. The move came when al-Shabab had already sent scouts there.
It's not clear whether Hizbul Islam wants a cut of the multi-million dollar pirate trade or if it seeks to flex its muscles by shutting down piracy - and the drugs, alcohol and prostitution that flourishes in pirate havens because of the huge ransoms the pirates get. Hizbul Islam's leader calls piracy un-Islamic.
Rival groups may be settling their grudges through bombings. Two bombs were set off in a Mogadishu mosque frequented by hardline al-Shabab leaders last weekend. Another mosque explosion in the port city of Kismayo followed a day later.
Such bombings risk alienating Somalis from those carrying them out, along with al-Shabab's campaign of stonings, decapitations and amputations as punishment under Sharia law. More nationalist militants also have been upset by threats against aid organisations that help their clan.
Somalia's ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Ali Nur, said the government was doing its best to build coalitions. "We are willing to talk to any Somali group who wants peace... The cake is big enough for all of us."
But the inability of the Somali government to capitalise on the rivalries between the groups and fissures within some of them, endangers a programme funded by the US and EU to rebuild Somalia's tattered army. The first batch of 2 000 soldiers to be trained by the EU flies to Uganda this week.
Roland Marchal, a Somalia expert at the Centre for International Studies and Research in Paris, said the effort would be meaningless unless the Somali government could build a broader coalition. - Sapa-AP
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