With Islamist retreat, Reuters reporter weeps

With the Islamists' retreat from Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu, Reuters reporter (most likely a stringer and Islamist sympathizer) Guled Mohamed once again lets us know where his sentiments lie:

The SICC had brought a semblance of stability to Mogadishu by imposing sharia, Islamic law, after chasing U.S. backed warlords from the city in June. Islamists and residents said order had collapsed with their departure.

"We have withdrawn all the leaders and members who worked in the capital," Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed told Al Jazeera television. "Mogadishu is now in chaos."

[ ... ]

Ahmed said the Islamists were united and determined to push out Ethiopian forces, but retreated to avoid more bloodshed.

By fleeing, the Islamists appeared to have averted the risk of becoming embroiled in the fierce street fighting that forced the U.S. military from Mogadishu more than a decade ago in a humiliating episode captured in the film "Black Hawk Down."

Meanwhile, leaders of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC) evoke memories of the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail ("'tis but a scratch! Come back here...I'll bite your leg off!"):

The SICC chairman said his side's hasty withdrawal was a tactical move in a war that began last week against Ethiopian troops defending Somalia's weak, Western-backed government.

Then again, the Black Knight didn't have the sense to withdraw, nor do the Islamists have the courage to fight, so maybe that's not the best comparison.