Curfew lifted in Somali capital for Muslim festival

A dusk-to-dawn curfew that has been in place for three months has been lifted in the Somali capital of Mogadishu for the holy month of Ramadan, a government minister said today.

Interior minister Mohamed Mohamud Guled did not say whether the curfew would be re-imposed after the end of Ramadan, the month celebrating the revelation of the Muslim holy book during which the faithful fast from dawn to dusk, then often feast and socialise late into the evening.

The curfew has been in place since June, intended to help stop fighting between Islamist insurgents and the weak, UN-backed government and its Ethiopian allies. Somalis say the curfew stopped socialising, closed night businesses and prevented the wounded from reaching hospitals after sunset.

The Horn of Africa nation has been mired in chaos since 1991, when rival warlords banded together to overthrow dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. There are few jobs, little security and the country is awash with weapons. Islamic insurgents vowed to fight an Iraq-style insurgency after they were thrown out of Mogadishu last December.

Yesterday, civil society activists, Islamic fighters, opposition politicians and expatriate Somalis meeting in Eritrea announced a new alliance dedicated to fighting the government’s Ethiopian allies. The alliance was expected to announce its new leaders later today.