Somalia’s government has banned celebrations of Christmas and New Year , saying the festivities might attract
Islamist attacks.The director general of the religious affairs ministry told
reporters on Tuesday.
“All events related to Christmas and New Year celebrations are contrary
to Islamic culture, which could damage the faith of the Muslim
community,”
Sheikh Mohamed Khayrow said security forces had been ordered to break up
any such celebrations. “There should be no activity at all,” he said.
According to AFP, Sheikh Nur Barud Gurhan, of the Supreme Religious
Council of Somalia, said that non-Muslim festivities might provoke the
ire of the Shebab, East Africa’s Al-Qaeda branch, which is headquartered
in Somalia.
“We are warning against the celebration of such events which are not
relevant to the principles of our religion,” Gurhan added, saying it
could provoke the Shebab “to carry out attacks”
No comments:
Post a Comment