Nairobi - An Islamic court in Somalia that sentenced four men to have a hand and a leg cut off postponed the punishment on Tuesday, saying the sweltering weather could cause them to bleed to death.

The court sentenced the men on Monday in the capital, Mogadishu, after accusing them of stealing mobile phones and guns. The court is run by al-Shabab, a powerful insurgent group that is trying to topple the UN-backed government and install a strict form of Islam.

"The sentence will be carried out later," an al-Shabab official said, requesting anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly. "It was postponed because of the hot weather and fears that the victims will bleed to death."

'Cruel, inhuman, degrading'

No date was set for the punishments to be carried out.

Amnesty International has appealed to al-Shabab not to carry out the "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments".

The US considers al-Shabab a terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda, which al-Shabab denies. The group, which controls much of Somalia, is boosted by hundreds of foreign fighters.

Somalis traditionally observe Sufi Islam, a relatively moderate form of worship. But in recent years, insurgents have begun to follow austere Wahabi Islam - rooted in Saudi Arabia and practiced by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when the overthrow of a dictatorship plunged the country into chaos. A surge in violence in recent weeks, which diplomats said is a major push by the insurgents to force the government out of its Mogadishu strongholds, has killed about 225 people.

By AP