MOGADISHU, SOMALIA — Residents of a southern Somalia town who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, an official said, adding the edict will be implemented in three days.
Shops, tea houses and other public places in Bulo Burto, about 200 kilometres northeast of the capital, Mogadishu, should be closed during prayer time and no one should be on the streets, said Sheik Hussein Barre Rage, chairperson of the town’s Islamic court.
His court is part of a network backed by armed militiamen that has taken control of much of southern Somalia in recent months, bringing a strict interpretation of Islam that is alien to many Somalis.
Those who do not follow the prayer edict after three days have elapsed, “will definitely be beheaded according to Islamic law.”