Some 500 Somalians have taken to the streets in support of the transitional government and demanding they do something to regain the country from Al-Shabab the terrorist linked hard line islamist group. Finally they have mustered the courage to actively speak out against anarchy. "The hardline al-Shabab militants, who control much of central and southern Somalia, have been targeting tombs of moderate Sufis, destroying dozens of burial places and attacking historic monuments and churches in the past couple of years. Al-Shabab has prohibited the decoration of tombs and does not want them to be idolized. "They have been worshipping the remains of the dead bodies in tombs and that is why we want to eradicate them, because there is nothing to worship or to ask help from but Allah," said Ali Mohamed Husein, the head of al-Shabab in Mogadishu. "Al-Shabab's wicked actions are not acceptable. We call for a holy war against them," said Sheik Somow of the moderate Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljama, which recently signed a power-sharing deal with the Somali government. "We never worship tombs but only consecrate the dead body of our religious fathers and teachers. They are those who spread the religion peacefully but this radical group has another agenda from terrorism-based ideologies." Al-Shabab espouses a strict interpretation of Islam, and has carried out public executions and amputations. Many Somalis chafe at al-Shabab's actions and orders because most observe a relatively moderate form of Islam that allows the veneration of respected saints. The demonstrators on Monday also protested the influx of foreign fighters to Somalia, said Mohyadin Hassan Afrah, who heads Mogadishu's civil society umbrella group that helped organize the march. Foreign fighters, coming primarily from Pakistan, Yemen and North Africa, have flocked to Somalia to back the country's myriad Islamic groups since 2006. Monday's protest was not the first against al-Shabab. Late last year, about 100 students rallied after a suicide bomber attacked a graduation ceremony in the capital that killed more than 20 people, including four government ministers, doctors, teachers and students. Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...s-protest-against-al-qaida.html#ixzz0jaWJIxy8
