Part One, the Birth of the Islamic Courts Union TWO weeks after we’d left Mogadishu, the wall next to which I used to make my satellite broadcasts in our compound was damaged in a bomb blast. A mere block away on Kilometre 4, the city’s most notorious junction, an Al-Shabab[…]

Shafiq Morton accompanied Gift of the Givers on its most recent aid mission to Mogadishu FROM the air, the Somali coastline is postcard pristine. Waves curl over coral reefs, and dunes lead to sandy beaches. As our plane dips towards Mogadishu, the Horn of Africa’s most troubled city comes into[…]

Back on September 15, God-willing. Follow the reports on Voice of the Cape. Will be in Mogadishu with Gift of the Givers.

IT is much easier to understand Syria, currently stricken with political revolt, in the light of history. Since time immemorial, a host of empires have decamped on its soil. Damascus, watered by the Barada River, is one of the oldest capitals in the world. Sharing a 900 km border with[…]

The Muslim Community Media Trust MY article in the pre-Ramadan edition of Muslim Views (Muslim Community Media: Is it My Final Crossroads?) has, I hope, led to some introspection about the lot of those who work within our community, especially the media. In it I confronted the harsh realities that[…]

SOUTH AFRICAN civil society scored three important coups for the country recently. The judiciary and the media both survived challenges. And the multi-billion rand arms deal, something that has haunted us since the 1990’s, was given a new lease of life. News that head of the Hawks, Anwar Dramat, had[…]

TODAY over a billion Muslims around the globe, having sighted the first crescent of the moon, will begin to fast in the Holy Month of Ramadan. From just before the first thread of dawn to just after sunset, they will be compelled to abstain from food, drink, sex, vainglorious talk[…]

Reaching Discontent: Author Hagler. Publisher Mirador Publishing, London, 2010. REACHING Discontent is a rip-roaring, blood-soaked adventure story featuring Iron, a Cape Flats English teacher and former professional boxer, who is forced to use his skills to defend his honour, and to face some apartheid government ghosts. One is called the[…]

AS Europe reels from its debt disaster, and the Arab Spring turns into an exciting summer, Israel faces a crossroads. With its political house stagnating in a quagmire of right-wing coalitions, its leadership now finds itself out-of-step in the region, and besieged by imaginary demons such as Iran – a[…]