Somali community takes on Islamists

In several Danish towns, efforts to integrate young Somalis into Danish society have been hampered by a coterie of fundamentalist compatriots. The latter seek to indoctrinate Somalis so as to exercise social control over the expat community, especially in Copenhagen, Århus, Aalborg and Odense. Somalisk Netværk i Danmark (Somali Network in Denmark) has submitted a series of proposals to integration minister Birthe Rønn Hornbech aimed at thwarting the fundamentalists.

In an in-depth feature, Politiken explains that according to Somalisk Netværk president Mohamed Gelle – himself the target of a fatwa – a cabal of 15 to 20 militant Somali Islamists have launched a drive to recruit young compatriots for Al-Qaeda-affiliated cells by bringing pressure to bear on their families (whether in Denmark or Somalia) and by indoctrinating them in radical Islam. There are 16,700 Somalis currently living in Denmark.