Somalian Clerics Want Moderate Sharia Nationwide

In Somalia, according to Reuters yesterday, a meeting of over 100 mainly moderate clerics has given the new government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, also a moderate, 120 days to declare that all of Somalia will be governed by Islamic law. This will require some amendments to the country's current constitution. The head of the Somali Uluma Council for Correction and Reconciliation says that its demands for Islamic law refer to a moderate version of Sharia, not the strict version that al-Shabab militants have declared after taking control of Baidoa last month.