Mogadishu, a city in ruins for sixteen years: torn apart by competing clan leaders, and factional anarchy.
Now, I discovered, there is remarkable change including fears that Somalia may become a new front in the war on terror. (Voice over Muslems anywhere can come here, we will show you new horizons. We are the new Afganistan)
But normality in the city. Last time I was here I could not walk into this market now the road blocks and gunmen the have gone. Business is thriving. People who live here were eager to tell me the advantages of the take-over. (Voice over, Sadia Mohamed: women were being raped and killed before, but now security is good, we feel safe.)
The Union of Islamic Courts has taken over with military might and moral authority.
But there is overwhelming support here for a group whose vision people really know very little about as evidenced in this Jihadi video, doing the rounds in Mogadishu.
It shows the existence of secret training camps and glorifies Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Shot from behind the lines, it shows Islamic fighters overwhelming the warlords, and seizing the capital. It is a rallying call to Somalis to defend their country and their religion. And, it invites marginalized Muslems everywhere to come to Somalia and join the uprising.
This video is not officially endorsed by the Islamic Courts; and it is passed around on an underground level. But it features some of their key players like Abu Utayba, now chief of security in Mogadishu.
With Sharia law, strict religious codes are being established not by official decree, but by example. A public flogging for this woman, accused of selling hashish, .. Public executions have been introduced, in this case, by stabbing Here, people leaving the scene of an execution by firing squad.
At the moment, these Mogadishu residents do not see it as a loss of personal liberties, but a gain. It is a price they are prepared to pay. People are rebuilding their city; public transport is moving again.
Armies of volunteers are cleaning-up decades of rubbish, including unexploded ordnance. Foreman Ahmed Jumale says this is his first job in 16 years .. There is work also at the re-opened port, where consignments of much needed aid have arrived successfully for the first time in 11 years. This sorghum is from the United States, brought in by the humanitarian organisation CARE International, and is destined for areas outside Mogadishu.
But aid is also needed here, in the city where thousands of people live in destitution, crowded together in makeshift camps.
Staff at the Red Cross-supported hospital told me gunshot wounds had dramatically reduced in Mogadishu from nearly 200 in July, to 29 from September.
The young clan militia who preyed on society for so long - are being re-educated in training camps. They now have a cause.
Voice over militia When I was doing all those things raping and looting, I was really proud, but I was wrong. Now I am here to defend my country and religion first.
Women, attend seminars for religious and moral training. They are taught first aid, and how to support the jihad fighters.
Chairman of the Islamic Courts, Sheik Sharif, has just declared Jihad against neighbouring Ethiopia. He is considered a moderate within the ranks. But his announcement has sparked fears of regional conflict and a new humanitarian disaster. When I spoke to him at his Mogadishu headquarters, he said Ethiopian troops had been inside Somalia for some time.
Ethiopia has been interfering with Somalia for a long time. It is our responsibility to defend the country and the people all Somali citizens are ready for jihad
He dismissed accusations by the US, that the Islamic Courts contained hardliners and terrorists.
We have only one objective which is peace and security we are not attacking other governments, we are not hostile. We would like help to restore stability in Somalia.
But the militarization of society and the focus on holy war is cause for concern even for supporters. Somalia now has something very different from the clan-based warlords: it has a centralized authority extending control from the capital. But after 16 years of conflict and international isolation, the last thing Somalia needs is another catastrophic round of war and suffering.
Now, I discovered, there is remarkable change including fears that Somalia may become a new front in the war on terror. (Voice over Muslems anywhere can come here, we will show you new horizons. We are the new Afganistan)
But normality in the city. Last time I was here I could not walk into this market now the road blocks and gunmen the have gone. Business is thriving. People who live here were eager to tell me the advantages of the take-over. (Voice over, Sadia Mohamed: women were being raped and killed before, but now security is good, we feel safe.)
The Union of Islamic Courts has taken over with military might and moral authority.
But there is overwhelming support here for a group whose vision people really know very little about as evidenced in this Jihadi video, doing the rounds in Mogadishu.
It shows the existence of secret training camps and glorifies Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Shot from behind the lines, it shows Islamic fighters overwhelming the warlords, and seizing the capital. It is a rallying call to Somalis to defend their country and their religion. And, it invites marginalized Muslems everywhere to come to Somalia and join the uprising.
This video is not officially endorsed by the Islamic Courts; and it is passed around on an underground level. But it features some of their key players like Abu Utayba, now chief of security in Mogadishu.
With Sharia law, strict religious codes are being established not by official decree, but by example. A public flogging for this woman, accused of selling hashish, .. Public executions have been introduced, in this case, by stabbing Here, people leaving the scene of an execution by firing squad.
At the moment, these Mogadishu residents do not see it as a loss of personal liberties, but a gain. It is a price they are prepared to pay. People are rebuilding their city; public transport is moving again.
Armies of volunteers are cleaning-up decades of rubbish, including unexploded ordnance. Foreman Ahmed Jumale says this is his first job in 16 years .. There is work also at the re-opened port, where consignments of much needed aid have arrived successfully for the first time in 11 years. This sorghum is from the United States, brought in by the humanitarian organisation CARE International, and is destined for areas outside Mogadishu.
But aid is also needed here, in the city where thousands of people live in destitution, crowded together in makeshift camps.
Staff at the Red Cross-supported hospital told me gunshot wounds had dramatically reduced in Mogadishu from nearly 200 in July, to 29 from September.
The young clan militia who preyed on society for so long - are being re-educated in training camps. They now have a cause.
Voice over militia When I was doing all those things raping and looting, I was really proud, but I was wrong. Now I am here to defend my country and religion first.
Women, attend seminars for religious and moral training. They are taught first aid, and how to support the jihad fighters.
Chairman of the Islamic Courts, Sheik Sharif, has just declared Jihad against neighbouring Ethiopia. He is considered a moderate within the ranks. But his announcement has sparked fears of regional conflict and a new humanitarian disaster. When I spoke to him at his Mogadishu headquarters, he said Ethiopian troops had been inside Somalia for some time.
Ethiopia has been interfering with Somalia for a long time. It is our responsibility to defend the country and the people all Somali citizens are ready for jihad
He dismissed accusations by the US, that the Islamic Courts contained hardliners and terrorists.
We have only one objective which is peace and security we are not attacking other governments, we are not hostile. We would like help to restore stability in Somalia.
But the militarization of society and the focus on holy war is cause for concern even for supporters. Somalia now has something very different from the clan-based warlords: it has a centralized authority extending control from the capital. But after 16 years of conflict and international isolation, the last thing Somalia needs is another catastrophic round of war and suffering.