the Namibian "NAIROBI - In a brazen show of power in Somalia’s capital, Islamist rebels punished four convicted thieves by cutting off a hand and a foot each before hundreds of onlookers who gathered for the bloody spectacle.
The punishments were the latest sign that insurgents wield the real power in the lawless African nation, where the embattled, Western-backed government is struggling to survive. Yesterday’s amputations were all the more audacious because they were carried out in Mogadishu, where the administration still has nominal control."
