Rebels ban musical ringtones

NAIROBI, Kenya: Sacdiyo Sheeq used to love listening to Bollywood movie songs on her mobile telephone.

But since hardline al-Shabab insurgents seized the southern Somali port of Kismayu, the 25-year-old's life has changed. "Al-Shabab wants our ringtones to be only a Muslim cleric reading the Hadith or Quranic verse," she said. "I used to listen to my favorite Indian songs on my cell phone, but now I have just thrown that memory away."

Al-Shabab, which Washington says is Al-Qaida's proxy in the Horn of Africa state, wants to topple the UN-backed government and impose its own strict version of sharia law. The heavily armed group controls much of the south and parts of the capital Mogadishu, and courts run by its clerics have recently ordered executions, floggings and amputations.