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Many Somalis celebrated the newly-established security in their anarchy-mired country. (Reuters)
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MOGADISHU — After suffering for decades under the yoke of warlord rule, Somalis are finding rare moments of peace and stability with the rise of the Joint Islamic Courts (JIC), now controlling major parts of the Horn of Africa country.
"We are finally seeing an end to the killing of civilians and robbery of their houses," Amina, a rights activist in southern Mogadishu, told IslamOnline.net on Monday, June 19.
"Shops selling narcotics have also been removed," she added.
Many in the areas captured by the JIC from the US-backed Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), including the capital Mogadishu, Jowhar and Balad, have welcomed the new-found stability.
Transport was moving more freely, business was flourishing, roadblocks had come down, and guns were less visible on the streets, they said.
Warlords had controlled Mogadishu since the 1991 overthrow of president Mohamed Siad Barre.
But earlier this month, the JIC ousted the warlord alliance from the capital after deadly fighting that left up to 350 people killed.
The African country of 10 million has lacked almost all the trappings of a functional state, such as national systems of education, healthcare and justice.
Long-lost Security
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The JIC leader said a conference will be held to discuss establishing civil municipal administrations in areas seized by his forces. (Reuters)
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Many Somalis celebrated the newly-established security in their anarchy-mired country.
"We are finally enjoying security and stability" Ali Mayo, a Mogadishu resident, told IOL.
JIC security convoys have been patrolling Mogadishu to maintain order in the capital.
"The move aims to restore security and stability to the capital and hunt down criminals and thieves," said Sheikh Abdul-Qader Ali Omar, the JIC deputy leader.
He urged the Mogadishu residents to cooperate with the JIC forces to help maintain law and order.
Invited to visit Mogadishu and Jowhar by the JIC, foreign reporters saw plenty of evidence of change since the defeat of the US-backed warlords.
Notorious roadblocks in and around cities, where levies were charged at gunpoint by warlord militia, have disappeared.
Roads were bustling with buses, trucks and donkey-pulled carts. Ships were lining up outside the nearby port.
"A bus fare from Mogadishu to Jowhar used to cost 70,000 shillings ($5). Now it is less than half, about 30,000," driver Mohamed Ali Ahmed told Reuters.
"The price dropped overnight when the courts took over, because the roadblocks went, so now the journey is toll-free."
Conference
Meanwhile, JIC chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said a conference will be held soon to discuss establishing civil municipal administrations in areas seized by the JIC.
The meeting will bring together representatives of the Somali mosaic, he added.
Ahmed said the JIC was also holding talks with Somali dignitaries at home and abroad to draw up a formula to restore security to the war-torn country.
Washington accuses the JIC of providing harbor to al-Qaeda members and seeking to establish a Taliban-like regime, claims rebuffed by the JIC.
"We have no special aims, interests or hidden agenda," Ahmed, told reporters in Jowhar.
"But the people wanted stability and security after 16 years of bloodshed and civil war. This was a popular uprising."
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