Could this be evidence of confidence in the TFG?

In one day, moneychangers and street vendors said the Somali shilling shot up to 10,000 per dollar from 14,000 on Thursday.

The UIC might be in the process of crumbling.

According to residents in Mogadishu, the leaders of several major clans — and some businesspeople who had been financing the Islamists — demanded that the Islamist leaders return the armed pickup trucks that had been lent to the movement.

Faced with the loss of support from their counterparts, other clan leaders saw the coalition begin to crumble and withdrew their trucks as well, leaving little of the organized force that once lent the Islamists their power.

Now we learn that the technicals had been "lent" to the UIC, not handed over permanently. The media left out this key piece of information when they reported the handover months ago.

It will be interesting to see what kind of new militias form in light of recent reports that Islamic militiamen have begun changing out of their UIC uniforms (they still have their rolodexes, right?). Another question is: are the clan leaders and businesspeople prepared to put their newly reacquired technicals to use against the Ethiopians and the TFG? Alternatively, will they sell them (if so, to whom?), put them into storage, or perhaps dismantle them? Or are they hoping to get some sort of compensation if and when they have to surrender them to the Ethiopians/TFG?

Somalia: Islamists disappearing in the capital

Somali Anarchy is More Orderly than Somali Government

Sheikh Hussein Hassan Abdulle, the Islamists’ deputy education secretary...appealed to college students in particular to pick up their rifles and join the Islamists’ jihad against Ethiopian troops who invaded Somalia, promising to give rifles to unarmed students who register at local offices.

...

Hundreds of extra Islamist militiamen began patrolling Mogadishu streets and searching vehicles at major intersections, according to witnesses and officials.

Sheikh Abdullahi Abuu Quteyba, Islamist head of security for Banadir region, said the move is designed to strenghten internal security.

“Mogadishu is not the only place where we are taking security measures,” said Abuu Quteyba.

One Mogadishu resident explained the move as means for the Islamists to prevent public uprising in areas currently under their control.

Source

This article is about gun control measures in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The smallest weapon that Islamists said should be surrendered to them is the Russian BKM machinegun. They said weapons smaller than BKM like AK47 and pistols are still allowed to remain in the hands of the civilian population.

"Battle-scarred nation is at peace with itself"

Here's a funny, though incorrect, quote from the picture page:

The Union of Islamic Courts have thrown out the Transitional Federal government from the capital, bringing relative peace and security.

It's incorrect because the Mogadishu warlords were never really part of the TFG.

There's also a woman (gasp!) not wearing the hajib.

***

So...how are the schools in Mogadishu?

In one class, a boy declared in thick London tones that he hailed from Streatham. When asked if he liked it in Somalia he replied: "Yeah, it's a good country and it's got good schools."

Another, craning over his Koran during a religious lesson said: "I prefer it back in Leicester." Mr Addow said that pupils from Britain have "rather weak mathematics" and need extra classes.

Here's some bad news about Islamist-imposed taxes in Mogadishu, Somalia.