A PECULIARITY of Somalia is that while the south of the country, including its broken capital, Mogadishu, has burned, the north has been stable.

索马里的一大特征就是当包括其残破的首都摩加迪沙在内的索马里南方在燃烧战火时，北方却能维持稳定的局面。

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But on Friday, Robow and Rage were again seen in the company of ultra-hardliners at an al-Shabab-run military camp in north Mogadishu.

VOA: standard.2010.01.02

(Speaking) The spokesman adds that many al-Shabab fighters were killed in the day-long battle and Ahlu-Sunna is still in control of the town in the Galgadud region, about 560 kilometers north of Mogadishu.

VOA: standard.2010.01.02

His stronghold is north Mogadishu and he is a former deputy to Ali Mahdi Mohammed, who is now a member of the 245-strong assembly .

BBC: Somali warlord backs government

Islamists who last week captured Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, tightened their grip on the southern half of the fragmented country by taking Jowhar, which had served as a temporary capital 90km (55 miles) north of Mogadishu.

ECONOMIST: Politics this week