KISMAYO, Somalia Mar 10 (Garowe Online) - Islamist rulers in Somalia's southern port of Kismayo have shut down money-wiring firms, attracting anger from the local population, Radio Garowe reports.

The offices of seven money-wiring companies were shut down Tuesday in Kismayo, which has been governed by Al Shabaab guerrillas since Aug. 2008.

"The Islamists asked us for additional money to be used to improve the city's image, but we informed them that we cannot pay," said a senior source at a money-wiring firm in Kismayo.

Al Shabaab administrators ordered the money transfer companies, known locally as hawala, to pay the additional fee or shut down their offices, the source added.

Kismayo locals have responded angrily to the hawala closures, with one resident telling Radio Garowe that tens of thousands of people are dependent on money sent by relatives from aboard.

It is the first time hawala offices have been closed in Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city equipped with a strategic port.

Source: Garowe Online