Hassan Dahir Aweys

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys ( _so. "Sheekh Xasan Daahir Aweys") (born in 1935 [ [http://www.tkb.org/KeyLeader.jsp?memID=6425 Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys] ] -), aged 71 in 2006Winter, Joseph, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5120242.stm Profile: Somalia's Islamist leader] , BBC News, 27 June 2006] , was the head of the 90-member shura council of the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia. [http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54167 SOMALIA: Islamic courts set up consultative council] , Integrated Regional Information Networks, 26 June 2006] Aweys was viewed as one of the more radical leaders of the Union, which promoted shari'a and directed the militias that took control of the former Somali capital of Mogadishu in June 2006. An eight-member executive committee was headed by the more moderate Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5113868.stm 'Radical' heads new Somali body] , BBC News, 25 June 2006] although the BBC stated that he was the "real power" of the organization.Winter, Joseph, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5120242.stm Profile: Somalia's Islamist leader] , BBC News, 27 June 2006]

He resigned from the ICU on December 28, 2006 at the end of ICU rule in Mogadishu.

He has been accused of being part of the Wahhabi movement within Islam, but personally maintains his background is Sufi.cite news
title=Somali Islamist leader vague on terrorism in interview
publisher=afrol News / Awdal News Network
date=2006-06-09
url=http://www.afrol.com/articles/19824]
accessdate=2007-01-08]

History

During the regime of Siad Barre, Aweys was a colonel in the Somali National Army (SNA) during the 1977 Ogaden War against Ethiopiacite news
title=Retreat fails to quell fears of long war in Horn of Africa
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1978770,00.html
publisher=The Guardian
date=2006-12-26
accessdate=2007-01-08] , during which he was cited for bravery.cite news
title=Somalia’s High Stakes Power Struggle
url=http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2005/238/25.shtml
publisher=The Council on Foreign Relations
date=2006-08-07
accessdate=2007-01-08]

Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI)

In the 1990s he headed al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5051588.stm Profile: Somalia's Islamic Courts] , BBC News, 6 June 2006] , an Islamist group that was responsible for terrorist attacks on hotels and markets in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Jijiga, and Hararcite news
title =Ethio-Eritrean Factors in the Somalian Saga
publisher =Addis Fortune
date =
url =http://www.addisfortune.com/Understanding%20Somalia-6.htm
accessdate = 2007-01-15 ] , and was originally funded by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden which was linked to the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/12/16/MN115486.DTL U.S. returning to a nightmare called Somalia] , SF Gate, 16 December 2001] AIAI was destroyed later in the 1990s by a force led by now-Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and funded by Ethiopia.Winter, Joseph, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5120242.stm Profile: Somalia's Islamist leader] , BBC News, 27 June 2006]

On November 7 2001, Aweys was named a supporter of terrorism in a supplement of Executive Order 13224 of United States President George W. Bush. [ [http://www.sec.state.ma.us/sct/sctter/teridx.htm Suspected Terrorist List] , list maintained by the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts] Aweys is also on the terrorist list of the United States Department of State. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13484195/page/2/ Meet the Press] U.S. Senator Russ Feingold calls Aweys "an al-Qaeda operative or somebody that is connected with al-Qaeda." 2006 June 25] When Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was elected president in 2004, Aweys declared that he would support the new leader, even if he pursued former elements of al-Itihaad, as long as the country was ruled according to Islam.

Islamic Courts Union (ICU)

After the defeat of AIAI Aweys played a key role in the beginnings of a system of courts set up according the shari'a by local businessmen desperate for order, becoming its spiritual head. The courts brought relative stability to areas under its control, after years of turmoil. The Union's notion of order is strict, including stonings for serious crimes such as rape and murder. At first it only controlled the area of north Mogadishu, but it gained support from many Somalis following the random violence suffered under the warlords who controlled southern Mogadishu. Beginning in about 2004, eleven of these courts folded into an umbrella organization, the Islamic Courts Union, which fielded a formidable militia. A UN report in early 2006 stated that Aweys was receiving military support from Eritrea, as part of the ongoing conflict between it and Ethiopia, though Eritrea denies the claim.

Following the Union's victory in Mogadishu in June 2006, Aweys rose to be the head of the shura committee, replacing Sharif Sheik Ahmed.cite news
title= Militant leader emerges in Somalia
publisher=New York Times
url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/25/news/somalia.php
date=2006-06-25
accessdate=2007-01-08] The Courts' second-in-command Sheikh Abdulakdir Ali stated day-to-day matters would be handled by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's executive committee. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5124068.stm Ethiopia says Somalia 'a threat'] , BBC News, 28 June 2006]

On July 21 2006, Hassan Aweys, in a radio broadcast, urged holy war on Ethiopian troops stationed in Baidoa to support the UN-backed government of Somalia.cite news
title=Somali Militant Urges Holy War on Ethiopia
url=http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/21/113509.shtml
publisher=Associated Press
date=2006-07-21
accessdate=2007-01-15 ]

On November 17 2006, the sheikh spoke to Shabelle Radio about the formation of a Greater Somalia, uniting the Somali people scattered across the Horn of Africa. He stated, "We will leave no stone unturned to integrate our Somali brothers in Kenya and Ethiopia and restore their freedom to live with their ancestors in Somalia." [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20061118-1613-somalia.html Islamic leader says Somali regions in Kenya, Ethiopia should be part of Somalia] , The San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 November 2006]

Regional concern had been heightened since November 2, when the US Embassy in Nairobi issued a terrorist warning of suicide attack threats in Kenya and Ethiopia. [cite news
title=Islamic Leader Urges Greater Somalia
url=http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=ethiopia_islamic_leader_urges_greater_so&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 |publisher=Associated Press
date=2006-11-18
accessdate=2007-01-15 ]

On December 19, 2006, he received medical treatment in Egypt just before the beginning of the war against the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian troops.cite news
title=West ‘backing the wrong horse’ in Mogadishu peace initiatives
url=http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news2901200710.htm
date=2007-01-29
accessdate=2007-01-29
publisher=The East African ]

On December 21 2006, as the fighting intensified with Ethiopia, he took a flight to an undisclosed location with Yusuf Mohammed Siad Inda'ade, and, rather than news of medical treatment, it was said he was on the "hajj", the pilgrimage in Mecca.cite news
title=Somalia: Top Islamist officials leave for unknown destination
url=http://somalinet.com/news/world/Somalia/6032
publisher=SomaliNet
date=2006-12-21
accessdate=2007-01-08 ]

On December 27 2006, Aweys, along with a group of several hundred fighters from the Hizbul Shabaab wing of the ICU fled Mogadishu, presumably to the former AIAI base at Ras Kamboni.cite news
title=Former Members of Radical Somali Group Give Details of Their Group
url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-06-voa25.cfm
publisher=Voice of America
date=2007-01-06
accessdate=2007-01-08] On December 31, 2006, he vowed to fight on, and called for others to create an insurgency against the government. Meanwhile, a heavily armed column of government and Ethiopian troops advanced from Mogadishu through Lower Shabelle towards Kismayo. They reached Bulo Marer (Kurtun Warrey district) and were heading to Baravo.cite news
first=Aweys Osman
last=Yusuf
title =Islamists vow a rebellious war as Ethiopian troops head to Kismayu
publisher =shabelle.net
date =2006-12-31
url =http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne1960.htm
accessdate = 2007-01-05 ]

In January 2007, his whereabouts remained generally unknown, but it was believed he was ailing. cite news
title=West ‘backing the wrong horse’ in Mogadishu peace initiatives
url=http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news2901200710.htm
date=2007-01-29
accessdate=2007-01-29
publisher=The East African ]

Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia

In September 2007, he emerged in Eritrea forming a new rebel movement.

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5120242.stm Profile: Somalia's Islamist leader]