Somali Islamists seize port as insurgency gains

An increasingly powerful Islamic insurgency is advancing toward Somalia's seaside capital, capturing town after town and seizing territory from the weak U.N.-backed government often without firing a shot. The U.N. has tried to advance peace talks, but militants from Al-Shabab have refused to take part until Ethiopians troops withdraw. On Wednesday, al-Shabab added the town of Merka, 56 miles from the capital, to its list of conquests after government fighters simply ran away. The group now controls most of the country's south, with the exception of Mogadishu and Baidoa (BIGH-dhowuh), where the parliament sits. Last week al-Shabab captured two towns in southern Somalia and a town lying on a strategic crossroads in central Somalia. Al-Shabab was part of the Islamic Courts Union that gained control of southern Somalia from 2000 until 2006 when Ethiopian troops drove them out with the support of the US. The Ethiopian regime says it wants to withdraw, but its opponents say it has calculated that an open-ended occupation of Somalia is better than having a radical Islamist regime next door. Many Somalis enjoy the relative calm the Islamists bring. According to one resident ofMerka, "They don't point their guns at us, like the government soldiers do." Another resident said the militants leave people alone if they submit to Islamic law.