Somalia Islamist group bans video games

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MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somalia's Islamist insurgents on Thursday banned video games, one of the last forms of entertainment left for local youth, arguing they were destroying the country's social fabric

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"Starting two days after this statement's date of issue, all video game playing centres in the areas under Hezb al-Islam control should be closed and playing video games will be prohibited," it said.

"Video games are designed in such a way that they destroy our social traditions and for that reason, anybody found ignoring this order will be punished and equipment will be confiscated," it said.

It was signed by Sheikh Mohamed Omar, head of propaganda for Hezb al-Islam, an insurgent group headed by influential cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and which controls densely-populated areas in and around Mogadishu.

Video games became particularly popular in areas on the outskirts of Mogadishu housing tens of thousands of families who fled the fighting in the capital since watching films on DVDs was also banned

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Children and teenagers would gather after school in small centres like cybercafes where PlayStations were wired up and a 30-minute game cost 5,000 Somali shillings (around 15 US cents).

"Hezb al-Islam officials ordered us to close our video game centres so today we're closed. We don't have a choice," said Ali Hidig, a game centre owner in Elashabiyaha, a village hosting refugees on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

"Young boys used to like coming here for entertainment after school but it looks like this is now a thing of the past," he told AFP

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