Somali insurgents stone man to death for adultery

Nov 7, 2009, 6:08 GMT

   Mogadishu - The Somali insurgent group al-Shabaab has stoned a man to death for committing adultery in the port town of Marka, officials said.

   'The 33-year-old man Abbas [Hussein Abdurahman] confessed his crime in front of the Islamic court, and today we have implemented his reward in front of the people in accordance with Islamic sharia,' al-Shabaab official Sheikh Suldan Aala Mohamed told spectators at the execution late Friday.

   Al-Shabaab and its ally Hizbul Islam are battling the weak central government and control much of south and central Somalia.

   They have been implementing strict sharia, or Islamic law, in the areas they control, ordering floggings and executions. They have also banned musical ringtones and dancing at weddings.

   Abbas was accused of conducting an affair at a farm with a married woman, who will reportedly also be stoned to death.

   Witnesses said it took almost 10 minutes for the accused to die.

   'The man died in under 10 minutes after dozens of young men stoned him,' Abdulkadir Ali Kolonbe told the German Press Agency dpa. 'He finally stopped moving with blood streaming from his head and chest.'

   An estimated 19,000 civilians have died since early 2007 in Somalia's bloody insurgency, which was prompted by neighbouring Ethiopia's invasion to kick out the Islamist regime.

   The United States said al-Shabaab has close links with al-Qaeda and the lawless nation is fast becoming a breeding ground for terrorists.