A10
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KLMNO
THE WORLD
Iraq’s two major Shiite blocs to try to form government
by Ernesto Londoño
baghdad — Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition and an- other Shiite political bloc an- nounced Tuesday night that they would band together to form a new government. The agreement was widely seen as tenuous, however, because the factions have not settled on candi- dates for the premiership or other top jobs — sticking points that prevented the groups from run- ning together in the March 7 par- liamentary elections. “We formed an alliance to form
the biggest bloc in the next parlia- ment,” Ali al-Allaq, a leader in Maliki’s State of Law coalition, said in an interview. “We agreed to postpone talking about the po- sition of the prime minister until the next phase.” U.S. officials have expressed
frustration over how slowly Iraqis have moved to form a govern- ment. The Americans fear the process could drag on for months, creating unrest that would co- incide with the drawdown of U.S. troops currently underway. Maliki’s State of Law won 89
seats in the next parliament. The other Shiite-dominated coalition,
In Somalia, songs
have gone silent
Islamists impose a ban on radio music
HBaghdad
ISRAEL
HAmman JerusalemH
by Sudarsan Raghavan
in mogadishu, somalia
I
n a capital that pulses with the sounds of war — the rumble of armored trucks, the crash of mortars, the crack of AK-47s — Radio
Xurmo was an oasis. Haunting Somali love songs, vi-
brant Arabic pop, even Bob Mar- ley and Michael Jackson filled the airwaves. The news, however dire, was bookended by melodic nationalist tunes that evoked So- malia’s lost glory. “Now, the songs have van-
ished,” declared Yasmin Mayo Mohammed, 35, minutes before she prepared to read the news. Radio stations have become the
latest front in an unrelenting war that is a struggle as much for So- malia’s identity as its territory. Three weeks ago, a hard-line mili- tia, Hezb-i-Islami, ordered sta- tions in Mogadishu to stop play- ing music, declaring it un-Islam- ic. Radio Xurmo complied; the Islamists have killed Somali jour- nalists for less cause. The station is located in a sliver of the capital controlled by Soma- lia’s U.S.-backed transitional gov- ernment. Silencing the music sent a loud message that the gov- ernment was too weak to face down the Islamists. So the gov- ernment ordered Radio Xurmo and other stations in its territory to play music — or shut down. The next day, a Hezb-i-Islami leader called the station’s director and warned that if the music did not stop, the militia would bomb the station. “The government cannot pro-
tect us,” said Mohammed, one of the station’s 11 employees. “The Islamists have the ability to kill anyone, anywhere.” In Somalia’s oral culture, music has shaped society for centuries. Singers crooned about family val- ues, ancient rituals and past em- pires. Collectively, music helped forge a national identity, if su- perficially, in a region dominated
UGANDA
H
JORDAN
HCairo
EGYPT Cairo
IRAQ
KUWAIT
HKuwait
HManama
BAHRAIN
SAUDI ARABIA
SUDAN
HKhartoum HAsmara
QATARHDoha
HRiyadh HAbu Dhabi
IRAN
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
HMuscat HSanaa
YEMEN
ETHIOPIA DJIB.
HAddis Ababa
KENYA
RWANDA
HKigali
Nairobi
URUNDImbura
TANZANIA
1000 miles
HNairobi
Equator
MILES
0 500
SEYCHELLES
HVictoria
THE WASHINGTON POST
by clans. “It is a source of oxygen, as important to us as the water we drink,” said Mohamed Hassan Haad, a senior figure in the pow- erful Hawiye clan. And ever since Somalia
plunged into anarchy after the central government fell in 1991, its people have relied on music to escape and to preserve their mo- rale. “It makes you feel life is still
okay,” said Mohammed Aden Ah- med, 22, a hotel waiter. “It is the wall between you and the vio- lence.”
An ideological battle
Hezb-i-Islami and its main ri-
val, al-Shabab, have banned mu- sic in other provinces for months. They have prohibited women from working at radio stations. And as the militants pushed into the capital, they carried along their ideological conflict. Somalia’s Information Minis-
try eventually told the five sta- tions in government-controlled areas that they were free to de- cide for themselves. Only the gov- ernment-run Radio Mogadishu— located in a compound protected by African Union peacekeepers — chose to continue playing music. Inside his heavily guarded of-
fice, Mohammed Sheik Hassan, the head of Somalia’s national se- curity agency, fumed. “It was a
HMogadishu
Indian Ocean
Mogadishu
the Iraqi National Alliance, won 70. The Sunni-backed Iraqiya coa- lition won 91 seats. Iraqiya’s lead- er, Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, contends that his group should get to form the next government because it received the largest number of seats. If the alliance between the Shi- ite blocs holds, leaders would need to bring just a handful of other lawmakers into the fold to get the 163 votes required to ap- point a new prime minister. The incoming parliament will have 325 members.
Such an alliance threatens to undermine U.S. interests in two
ways. It could exacerbate a sense of marginalization among Sunnis, prompting them to once again re- sort to violence. And it could give anti-American cleric Moqtada al- Sadr’s movement, the biggest vote-getter within the Iraqi Na- tional Alliance, a dominant role in the government. The Sadrists have made clear
they would like to control at least one of the ministries that oversee the army or police. U.S. officials fear that scenario because they consider the movement’s armed wing, the Mahdi Army, a ruthless sectarian militia. The main parties in the Iraqi
National Alliance propelled Mali- ki to power in 2006, when he was seen as a malleable figure. Mali- ki’s relationship with his political allies soured during his years in power, most notably after he launched a crackdown on the Mahdi Army in spring 2008. The alliance, whose leaders
have close ties to Iran, was the largest bloc in the election that didn’t put forward a possible con- tender for the premiership. The announcement of the pact
between the Shiite blocs came on the second day of a manual re- count of ballots cast in Baghdad, which is being conducted at Mali-
ki’s request. He has alleged that ballots for his slate were under- counted because of human error and fraud. The recount is expec- ted to last at least two weeks. The outcome of the vote could also be altered by the disqual- ification of winning candidates for alleged ties to Saddam Hus- sein’s outlawed Baath Party, an ef- fort led by a government commis- sion run by members of the Iraqi National Alliance.
londonoe@washpost.com
Special correspondents Jinan Hussein and K.I. Ibrahim contributed to this report.
WEDNESDAY,MAY 5, 2010
SUDARSAN RAGHAVAN/THE WASHINGTON POST
Yasmin Mayo Mohammed, who reads the news at Radio Xurmo in Mogadishu, Somalia, gets ready to leave the station. She wears an abaya as a form of protection — as part of their radio crackdown, Islamist militias have banned women from working at stations.
stupid action on their part,” he said of the other stations. “Why should they obey those who are on the other side of Mogadishu?” But Mohammed Osman Aruz, a spokesman,
Hezb-i-Islami
laughed. “There is no government in So-
malia,” he said by phone from the town of Harardhere. “It’s very easy for us to impose our views.” Today, Radio Xurmo feels like a
graveyard. Outside, the street bears the scars of battles fought over two decades. Men clutching guns are everywhere, but none are assigned to protect the sta- tion. The war’s front line is two miles away. Inside the station, dark hallways lead to offices closed off by two iron-grilled se- curity gates.
Behind them, Mohammed somberly read news about a U.S. special court to try Somali pi-
Music “is the wall between you and the
violence.”
— Mohammed Aden Ahmed, hotel
waiter in Mogadishu
rates. She paused. It was time for what should have been a music break. She motioned at the engi- neer, who promptly slid a switch. A recording of gunfire erupted from the speakers, filling the gap during which music was once played. Mohammed read the next news item, quoting a United Nations official pleading for more African countries to send troops to Soma- lia. She looked up and motioned again. More recorded gunfire. On the other side of the capital,
DIGEST
MIDDLE EAST
Mosque fire called threat to new talks
The Palestinian Authority president warned Tuesday that a fire in a West Bank mosque, which he blamed on extremist Jewish settlers, could endanger Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as they are set to resume. In a statement, Mahmoud Ab-
bas called the fire a “criminal” act that “represented a threat to the efforts to revive the peace proc- ess,” because the Israeli army protects the settlers. It was not clear whether the
fire in Luban a-Sharkiyeh early Tuesday was arson, as Palestin- ians charged, or accidental, as Is- raeli media reported. The incident occurred a day af-
ter U.S. mediator George J. Mitch- ell returned to the region to re- start Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which halted more than a year ago. He plans to start his mission Wednesday by meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Bin- yamin Netanyahu.
— Associated Press
THAILAND
Cautious welcome for government offer
Thai anti-government demon-
strators said Tuesday that they “welcome” a proposed compro- mise to end the violent political crisis that has paralyzed central Bangkok for nearly two months, but they asked for more details about the plan before they would halt their protests. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjaji-
va proposed holding new elec- tions Nov. 14 in exchange for the Red Shirt protesters dismantling the camp they have set up in the middle of the Thai capital. The standoff and related clashes have killed 27 people, wounded almost 1,000 and polarized the country. The Red Shirt leaders met
Tuesday to discuss the five-point plan and “unanimously wel- comed the reconciliation proc- ess,” said Veera Musigapong, a protest leader. He did not say, however, when the protesters would disperse, and other leaders called on the government to clarify elements of the plan.
— Associated Press
BRITAIN
Secret evidence barred in lawsuit
A British court says the govern- ment will not be allowed to keep evidence secret from former Guantanamo Bay prisoners who are suing Britain over what they
deem its complicity in their de- tention and abuse. The civil suit of seven former
inmates of the U.S. military pris- on in Cuba has yet to come to trial, but the government won a preliminary victory last year by securing the right to keep select- ed pieces of information secret. Attorneys for the men said Tuesday that a three-judge panel
has overturned that ruling be- cause secret evidence violated the principle of open justice.
— Associated Press
BRITAIN
Ash closes airports in Scotland, N. Ireland
Britain’s Civil Aviation Author-
ity said it must close the airspace of Scotland and Northern Ireland early Wednesday because of dan- gerous levels of volcanic ash in- bound from Iceland. The authority warned Tuesday
that the ash cloud could also force airports in England and Wales to shut down Wednesday. It did not say when Scottish and Northern Irish air services might
reopen. Both regions shuttered air services for several hours Tuesday. Also Tuesday, E.U. transporta-
tion ministers meeting in Brus- sels vowed to reform Europe’s patchwork air traffic control sys- tem into a single airspace and to establish binding rules to deter- mine when volcanic ash makes it too dangerous to fly. They said the measure was “a top priority” to reduce travel chaos caused by volcanic ash in the future.
— Associated Press
WONG MAYE-E/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Thai prime minister has asked for protesters to dismantle their camp set up in the middle of Bangkok.
Death penalty sought for Mum-
bai gunman: Judge M.L. Tahiliya- ni held a sentencing hearing in Mumbai for Ajmal Amir Kasab and said he would announce a decision Thursday. Kasab is the only surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam asked for the death penalty, which is rare in India.
Veiled Muslim woman fined in
Italy: A 26-year-old Tunisian woman was fined $650 for wear- ing a full face veil while walking with her husband to a mosque in Novara, in northern Italy, stoking a growing debate on the integra- tion of Muslim minorities in Eu- rope.
— From news services
employees at Radio Tusmo use mortar shelling as sound effects. “We wanted to make the same sounds as the militias,” explained Abdul Mahmood, 21, the station’s chief editor. “If they say no to the music now, they cannot say no to the mortars because they are fir- ing them.”
Losing more than music
Like others, the station has lost tens of thousands of listeners since the ban. The loss is pro- found, because the music was also used to attract young listen- ers to programs teaching moder- ate Islam, human rights, health issues and reconciliation in So- malia’s fractured society. “We were the moral soul of the
people,” lamented Omar War- dare, a moderate imam who used to play soothing Sufi music on his religious show.
Mohammed expects to be banned from speaking on the ra- dio, if she stays alive long enough. As she prepared to leave the sta- tion, she donned a black abaya that covered her entire body, save for her brown eyes. She did not wear it out of tradition. “This is for my security,” she
said. Two hours later, at Radio Mog- adishu, a talk show host snapped his fingers to the rhythm of a vi- brant Somali song. He flirted with his female co-host. But playing music comes at a price. Mohammed Ibrahim Raghe, 22, the station’s sound en- gineer, fled his home after he re- ceived a death threat. He now lives at the station. “For six months, I have not
gone outside the gate,” Raghe said.
raghavans@washpost.com
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