Things were obviously already bad in Somalia for a long, long time, but they’ve gotten even worse today:

Somalia’s parliament has unanimously approved to implement the Sharia (Islamic law) across the country, the parliamentary deputy speaker has said.

Osman Elmi Bogore said that members of the parliament passed the law, originally proposed by the opposition, on Saturday.

“There were 340 members at the session and they voted unanimously for the implementation of Islamic sharia in Somalia,” Bogore, who presided over the debates, said.

“The bill … is approved by the parliament… We have an Islamic government.”

The opposition had called on the interim government, led by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, to implement the Sharia as a precondition to start a national dialogue in the war-torn country.

It is not difficult to see where this is going. Somalia will become an African version of Saudi Arabia (or Iran, or Afghanistan before the Taliban were overthrown, etc.). (more…)

The Dutch have – finally - joined the battle against Somali pirates. Earlier today, the Dutch navy announced it captured seven priates and freed 20 of their captives:

The Dutch navy captured seven suspected Somali pirates and freed 20 captives in the strategic Gulf of Aden shipping lane on Saturday, Dutch and NATO authorities said.

“This morning we intercepted a request for assistance from a Greek-owned ship from the | MORE ›

French special forces rescued a pair of hostages kidnapped two weeks ago by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, and now President Nicolas Sarkozy is calling on the world to do more to fight the current rash of maritime terrorism. Via Fox News:| MORE ›

Good news in the fight against maritime terrorism: the US and Canada have announced separate plans to protect ships that have been the target of Somali pirates. Canada is sending a warship to protect UN food shipments to Somalia (via CNN):| MORE ›

‘A French military operation to free a yacht hijacked by Somali pirates backfired today when one of the hostages was killed, highlighting the perils facing US forces trying to free an American seaman being held captive in a parallel pirate standoff,’ the Guardian reports.| MORE ›

I guess they didn’t hear what happened the last time they tried this (via Reuters):

NAIROBI – Somalia pirates have seized a yacht with two French nationals aboard off the coast of East Africa, a maritime official and the French Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

‘The ministry confirms that a yacht with two French on board has been the target of an act of maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden,’ it said in a statement from Paris. (more…)

Sad but not surprising news from Somalia: as the kidnapping and murder of foreign aid workers continues to escalate, the poor and hungry people they went to help now face a growing humanitarian crisis. Via Africa News Search:| MORE ›