April 25, 209- The newly elected leader of Somalia's Puntland regional authority has declared a new campaign to fight piracy in the region, using public support and government institutions, Radio Garowe reports. Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed "Farole," the president of Puntland State, spoke after Friday prayers at Sahaba Mosque in Garowe, the region's administrative capital. "We [government] wish to inform the public that we have began a direct campaign against pirate gangs and we urge everyone not to defend them [pirates]," President Farole said. He explained the Somali culture of "defending criminals for clan reasons" but warned strongly against such practice, saying that the pirates are "corrupting the culture" and pose a security threat to Puntland. "We learned on our trip to Nairobi [Kenya] that the international community is planning attacks on land and this is a big problem for Puntland," the President noted. President Farole stated that the government has begun an active campaign against the pirates starting today. He commented that the Puntland administration met with members of the local religious community and gained support for the government's two-tier action plan to raid pirates on land and to warn the public through radio and mosque messages. All mosques in Garowe focused Friday's weekly sermon on the negative impact of piracy on the local community. The preacher at Garowe's Sahaba Mosque spoke both in Somali and Arabic languages, citing Islamic sources that explicitly prohibit "criminal acts like piracy." "All forms of roadblocks are haram [prohibited] in Islam. Our religion instructs us to give safe passage to all travelers, by sea or by land," the preacher told hundreds of congregants. (Garowe - Somali website)

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