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Somali Islamist hardliners behead 7 people

Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:21am EDT
MOGADISHU, July 10 (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline Islamist rebels beheaded seven people on Friday for being "Christians" and "spies" in the latest implementation of strict sharia law by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab movement, witnesses said.

Though al Shabaab has carried out such punishments before in regions it controls, Friday's was thought to be the largest number of executions in one go, Somalis said.

"Al Shabaab told us that they were beheaded for reasons they described as being Christian followers and spies," said one relative, who gave his name only as Aden, after the executions in the south-central town of Baidoa. (Reporting by Mohamed Ahmed; Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)



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