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Somalia bans swimming for
women at beach
By Mohamed Sheikh Nor
October 20, 2006 - (AP) An Islamic court has banned women from
swimming at the main beach in Somalia's capital, the latest step
to impose strict religious rule that has sparked fears of an emerging,
Taliban-style regime.
Sheikh Farah Ali Hussein, chair of a northern Mogadishu Islamic
court, said Friday that the ban applies only to the northern Mogadishu
Leedo beach, where families usually go on weekends to play and relax.
"We stopped women from swimming because it is against the teaching
of Islam for women to mingle with men, especially while they are
swimming," Hussein said.
Since sweeping to power over much of southern Somalia in June,
the Islamists have banned movie viewing, publicly lashed drug users
and broke up a wedding celebration because a band was playing and
women and men were socializing together. They also have introduced
public executions.
Somali women usually swim fully clothed as swimsuits are generally
frowned upon. Somali men, however, swim in trunks, at times bare-chested
or wearing vests. "They cannot prevent us from our right to
swim in the sea. What is wrong with us enjoying ourselves like men?
That is clear discrimination," Miriam Isse told The Associated
Press as she watched others swimming in the Indian Ocean.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991,
when warlords overthrew dictator Mohammed Siad Barre and then turned
on one another, throwing the country into anarchy. A transitional
government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help in hopes of restoring
order. But the government never asserted much authority and the
Islamic group has stepped into the power vacuum.
The group's strict and often severe interpretation of Islam raises
memories of Afghanistan's Taliban, which was ousted by a U.S.-led
campaign for harboring Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida fighters. The
United States has accused Somalia's Islamic group of sheltering
suspects in the 1998 al-Qaida bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania. Bin Laden has portrayed Somalia as a battleground
in his war on the West.
From: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Somalia_Beach_Ban.html
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