Barbarism on Parade in Somalia

In a scene reminiscent of similar reports from Iran, a Somali man was stoned to death by an Islamist group just outside Mogadishu for reportedly committing murder. The man was buried up to his chest and stoned until dead. It's a practice condoned by Islamic law and Sharia.

Mohamed Abukar Ibrahim, 48, was buried in a hole up to his chest and then pelted with rocks by fighters from the rebel group Hizbul Islam on Saturday in Afgoye, about 20 miles from the capital, Mogadishu.

A rebel judge announced that Ibrahim, along with a man who had been accused of murder, had both confessed to their crimes.

The alleged murderer got a more merciful punishment -- he was shot to death.

"This is their day of justice," the judge, Osman Siidow Hasan, told the hundreds of villagers who had been forced to attend. "We investigated, and they confessed."

Ali Gabow, one of the villagers, told Reuters, "I could not watch."

"The lady who had been with the second man was only given 100 lashes because she said she had never married."