Failed State Update

While you were sleeping, an Islamic militia reportedly took over the capital of Somalia.

MOGADISHU, June 5 (Reuters) - Islamic militia announced on Monday they had won control of Mogadishu from Somali warlords after the worst fighting in the lawless capital in more than a decade, residents said.

Members of the warlord alliance said their leaders were fleeing the capital. Around 350 people have been killed since February in several bouts of fighting between militia supporting Islamic courts and gunmen allied to a self-styled anti-terrorism coalition, widely believed to be covertly backed by the United States.

Iran hawks like to style the Persian Islamic Republic as a "terrorist state" that might as well be in cahoots with Osama bin Laden. But Somalia might become the first nation since the collapse of Afghanistan's Taliban to offer a perch to al Qaeda.

Brian Doherty wrote about Somalia and the real meaning of anarchy back in 2005.