US warships surround Ukrainian ship hijacked nr Somalia: Cargo for Sudan - Somali Islamic rebel group bans operations of aid agencies CARE & IMS

A Somali Islamist rebel group said on Friday that it has banned two international aid agencies which they accused of anti-Islam activities from operating in areas controlled by their militias in south Somalia.

It also has given warnings to others.

Spokesman for the Islamist Al-shabaab movement said that Care International and International Medical Corps (IMS) have been involved in "immoral and bad activities" that are against the teaching of Islam. He did not elaborate.

Source: MOGADISHU, October 03 2008 Xinhua report - Somali insurgent group bans operations of two aid agencies. Excerpt:

 "We cannot accept such activities by these two organizations to continue under our rule. We have also given warning to other international NGOs," Sheik Muqtar Robow, Al-Shabaab spokesman told Xinhua.

The Al-shabaab is one of the hard-line insurgency groups that have been waging deadly attacks on Ethiopian troops backing Somali government forces since the allied forces ousted an Islamist administration in South and central Somalia in December 2006.

The group's fighters are in control of a number of regions in south Somalia including Kismayu, the third largest city in Somalia, where they have been ruling according to the Koran ever since they took over the port city in August.

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