Somalia: January 21, 2005

Archives

The desecration of the Italian cemetery turned out to be part of a real estate scam. Young gunmen were hired to clear out the graves in the Italian cemetery, which lies on some prime real estate. Land speculators believe that there will soon be a return to law and order, and land prices will rise sharply. The cemetery plan backfired, however, with local political, religious and warlord leaders condemning the cemetery desecration. Apparently half the 1,400 graves were dug up, and local religious leaders say the remains will be reburied. Somali leaders fear that this will make it more difficult to get foreign nations to send peacekeepers to help control the violence. They are right, as many foreign nations see this latest incident as evidence of how totally out of control Somalia still is.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close