Somali Government Nears End

The morning brings news that the Somali government is near collapse, clinging to the capital city Mogadishu as Islamist rebels march toward them. “Islamists have taken over everywhere else," said Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf. The major rebel group is called Al-Shabaab. The Guardian says it has terrorized the countryside this year with suicide bombings and the imposition of a harsh form of sharia law. Yusuf’s government has been plagued by internal strife, and the president urged all officials to regroup in the city of Baidoa and form a government. "The Islamists kill city cleaners, they will not spare legislators," he said.