Somalis defy Islamist ban to watch World Cup (News Feature)

By Michael Logan Jun 14, 2010, 14:40 GMT

Mogadishu - While football fans across the world flock to big screens and revel in the party atmosphere of the World Cup, Somalis are being forced to secretly view the games in their homes.

Islamist insurgents, who are battling to topple the weak Western-backed government, on Monday warned people not to watch the games.

Hizbul Islam on Sunday night arrested 14 teenagers in Afgoye, 30 kilometres west of the war-ravaged capital Mogadishu, for watching Germany thump Australia 4-0.

'I am warning all Somali youths who are engaged in watching these World Cup games not to attend or watch, because it's worthless - it only wastes time and money,' Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aros, a spokesman for Hizbul Islam, told reporters in Mogadishu on Monday.

'It (this ban) is intended to make Muslim people busy,' he added.

There are no big screens or public viewings anywhere in the insurgent-controlled areas of Mogadishu. Only in small pockets of Mogadishu, where African Union peacekeepers are protecting the shaky government, are fans truly safe to spectate.

Outside those areas, people lucky enough to have access to satellite TV can watch the games in their homes, but even then they have to be careful.

Groups of armed Islamists are roaming the bullet-scarred streets, looking for spectators. Those caught face a public flogging.

'We have been secretly watching the games, because the Islamist troops don't allow us,' Mowlid Abdulkadir Farah told the Geman Press Agency dpa. 'We turn off the sound and watch in silence, because they could trace us by our shouts or the TV noise.'

'Many of my colleagues were arrested last night, but our group got the chance to watch the whole game,' he added.

Hizbul Islam and fellow insurgent group al-Shabaab follow a strict version of Sharia, or Islamic law.

The ban on watching football has been around for several years. Musical ring-tones, bells and dancing have also joined the list of prohibited items in areas of Somalia.

Football fans in the north-east Kenyan town of Mandera, which lies close to the Somali and Ethiopia borders, have also fallen foul of a ban by Muslim leaders.

Some Mandera residents were outraged in April when a cleric banned public video halls - the only place the vast majority of people can watch games - saying satellite television could expose youngsters to pornography.

Over 20,000 people have died in the current insurgency in Somalia, which kicked off early in 2007 after Ethiopian forces ousted the Islamist regime.

Somalia has been embroiled in chaos since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.