Somalia is 98.5% Muslim. Brief history: During the 70's a repressive socialist regime ruled somalia. Efforts from both north and south somalia, with ethiopia's help ousted the government. A president was selected, not elected, and due to disputing factions who did not recognize him, the country erupted into Civil war. This profoundly disrupted agriculture and food distribution. A famine that left 300,000 dead, continued violence, and the humanitarian disaster motivated the United States to create a secure environment in Southern Somalia from which to conduct humanitarian operations, but the Somalian people didn't want them there. The TFG (transitional federal government) is the currently internationally recognized federal government of Somalia, but it doesnt control most of the country and doesn't have the support of the people, and so can is rightly be considered not legitimate, but is probably Somalias only chance at getting for war crimes tried. In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), an Islamist org, assumed control of much of the southern part of the country and promptly imposed Shari'a law. The Transitional Federal Government sought to reestablish its authority, and, with the assistance of Ethiopian troops, African Union peacekeepers and air support by the US, managed to drive out the rival ICU and solidify its rule. For a short time in 2007 the federal government controlled most of the country. Following this defeat, the Islamic Courts Union splintered into several different factions. The more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopia's presence. They won the support of the people for helping oust foreigner Ethiopian forces, and probably because the people felt they had the best chance of establishing order because they were the most strict. By January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other militias had managed to force the Ethiopian troops to retreat, leaving behind an under-equipped African Union peacekeeping force to assist the TFG's troops. Due to a lack of funding and people, arms embargos that made it hard to re-establish a national security force, & indifference from the international community, President Yusuf had to deploy thousands of troops from Puntland to Mogadishu to sustain the battle against insurgent elements in the southern part of the country. Financial support for this effort was provided by the autonomous regional gvt. who was left w/ little revenue for its own security forces and civil service employees, leaving the territory vulnerable to piracy and terrorist attacks. The president had to resign because it was a lost cause. He also blamed the international community for failure to help Summer '08, reps of Somalia's federal government and the moderate Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) group of Islamist rebels participated in peace talks in Djibouti brokered by the former UN Special Envoy. The conference ended with a signed agreement calling for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in exchange for the cessation of armed confrontation. Parliament was subsequently expanded to 550 seats to accommodate ARS members, who elected Shekh Ahmed To solidify its rule, the TFG formed an alliance with the Islamic Courts Union, other members of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a, a moderate Sufi militia . Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, the two main Islamist groups in opposition, began to fight amongst themselves in mid-2009. AS A CONCESSION FOR TRUCE, in March 2009, Somalia's coalition government announced that it would IMPLEMENT SHARIA as the nation's official judicial system However, conflict continued in the southern and central parts of the country, with the different Islamic groups vying for power. The coalition government went from holding about 70% of south-central Somalia's conflict zones, TO LOSING ALMOST ALL OF IT to the Islamist insurgents Al-Shabaab wants no less than a strict interpretation of Islam and feels it is fighting jihad for Allah against those who pervert the religion by being less hard-lined. The poor people in Somalia subject to all this violence..after about 20 years of conflict I think in any conflict that lasts longer than a generation makes its youth desensitized to the violence and internalize the violence as it becomes normal to them. Somalia cannot use any assistance from outsiders to resolve the conflict due to its distrust, and a solution needs to come from within Somalia itself which is unlikely among all the chaos, and with no institutions, or intellectual resources. I hope the rapists and genociders within all the warring factions that took advantage of the situation to abuse the people of Somalia, especially the women, with total impunity, one day will encounter justice and be brought to trial for war crimes. Somalia is 98.5% Muslim

• published: 25 Feb 2011
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