Somali president signs Sharia bill into law

September 9th, 2009 APNewsBreak: Somali president plans US tourCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Somalia's United Nations ambassador says his country's newly elected president plans a tour this fall of U.S. communities with large Somali populations.

July 22nd, 2009 LONDON - The Founder of Britain's oldest Sharia court has said that harsh Islamic punishments, such as the amputation of limbs, will make Britain a safer place. The Daily Times quoted Sheikh Suhaib Hasan, secretary of the Islamic Sharia Council, as saying that the enforcement of Sharia law was "something to bring you more peace and security".

July 11th, 2009 MOGADISHU - At least 15 people, including the security head of Mogadishu, were killed and 43 others injured in clashes between the security forces and Islamic militants in the Somali capital Saturday, officials said. Nur Hassan Ali, in charge of Mogadishu security, was killed in one of the battles between Somali government forces and militants in the Abdelaziz district here, an official said.

June 23rd, 2009 MOGADISHU - The Somali government has declared a state of emergency in the war torn country as government forces battled insurgents. "The Somali government decided to impose a state of emergency on the country so that we can overcome the difficult situation the country is going through," President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said at a press conference in Mogadishu.

April 24th, 2009 Minn. won't penalize group in Somali piracy caseST. PAUL, Minn. — A Republican state legislator in Minnesota has failed in his attempt to punish a group that helped line up an attorney for an accused Somali pirate.

April 18th, 2009 MOGADISHU - NATO forces Saturday freed 20 people taken hostage by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden last week, a media report said. A Dutch warship in a NATO anti-piracy mission freed 20 Yemeni hostages from a vessel that was captured by the pirates last week, the report quoted a NATO spokesperson as saying.

April 18th, 2009 MOGADISHU - The Somali parliament Saturday approved a proposal to introduce Islamic Sharia law in the country, a media report said. 'There were 340 members at the session and they voted unanimously for the implementation of Islamic Sharia in Somalia,' Geo TV reported, quoting deputy speaker Osman Elmi Bogore.

April 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Sharia laws have been formally imposed in Swat and six other districts of Pakistan's restive northwest but a question mark hangs over whether the Taliban would live up to their promise of laying down their arms in return for the measure. North West Frontier Province Governor Awais Ahmad Ghani and Chief Minister Haider Hoti Wednesday signed Nizam-e-Adl Regulation that the National Assembly, the lower house of Pakistan's parliament had approved Monday and which President Asif Ali Zardari had ratified the same night.

April 15th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muslim Khan has said that their men would surrender arms only after they see Sharia enforced in Malakand division of the Sawt Valley, after TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad has asked them to lay down arms after President Asif Zardari approved the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation. "The Taliban should lay down weapons after the signing of the Sharia regulation by the president," Sufi said while talking to reporters.

April 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Joyous over the implementation of sharia law in Malakand region of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Mohammad has said that the law would be extended to other parts of the country too, The Dawn reports. Talking to reporters in Bathkhela, after government's approval to implement the Nizam-e-Adl regulation, Mohammad said the Taliban and TNSM would work together to maintain peace in the region.

April 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Several members of the Pakistan Parliament who do not endorse the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation are worried, as they are unable to decide whether to speak against the deal or keep a low profile on the issue. With President Asif Ali Zardari sending the sharia regulation bill to Prime Minister Gilani to table it before Parliament for a discussion, the members are caught in a catch 22 situation.

March 29th, 2009 LONDON - Brushing aside the Scotland Yard probe into his inflammatory speeches, the controversial Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary has warned that Britain would become a Sharia state soon. "Let me tell you something - the Sharia will be implemented in Pakistan, it will be implemented in India and Bangladesh and even down the road in Downing Street.

January 27th, 2009 NAIROBI/MOGADISHU - Somali insurgents have installed strict Islamic law in Baidoa, the seat of the Somali government, after taking control of the town. Main insurgent group al-Shabaab took over the town Monday, only hours after the pullout of Ethiopian troops who had been propping up the central government for two years.

January 4th, 2009 PARIS - A French warship Sunday foiled attacks by Somali pirates on two commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the French president's office said. Patrolling off the Somali coast, the French warship 'Jean de Vienne' captured 19 Somali pirates when they tried to seize a Croatian freighter and a Panamanian cargo ship.

December 28th, 2008 MOGADISHU - Somalia's President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed Monday resigned, ending an infighting with Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein which almost brought the transitional government to the brink of collapse. Yusuf made the announcement while addressing parliament in the southern town of Baidoa.