Hassan Dahir Aweys

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Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys (Somali: Sheekh Xasan Daahir Aweys), aged 61 in 2006^[1] , was the head of the 90-member shura council of the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia.^[2] Aweys is viewed as one of the more radical leaders of the Union, which promotes shari'a and directs militias that took control of the former Somali capital of Mogadishu in June 2006. An eight-member executive committee is headed by the more moderate Sharif Sheikh Ahmed,^[3] although the BBC stated that he was the "real power" of the organization.^[1]

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.^[4]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI) 1.2 Islamic Courts Union (ICU) 2 References

[edit] History

During the regime of Siad Barre, Aweys was a colonel in the Somali National Army (SNA) during the 1977 Ogaden War against Ethiopia^[5], during which he was cited for bravery.^[6]

[edit] Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI)

Main article: al-Itihaad al-Islamiya

In the 1990s he headed al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI)^[7], an Islamist group that was responsible for terrorist attacks on hotels and markets in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, Jijiga, and Harar^[8], 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.^[9] AIAI was destroyed later in the 1990s by a force led by now-Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and funded by Ethiopia.^[1]

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.^[10] Aweys is also on the terrorist list of the United States Department of State.^[11] 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.

[edit] Islamic Courts Union (ICU)

Main articles: Islamic Courts Union, Rise of the Islamic Courts Union (2006), and War in Somalia (2006–present)

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.^[1]

Following the Union's victory in Mogadishu in June 2006, Aweys rose to the head of the shura committee, replacing Sharif Sheik Ahmed.^[12] The Courts' second-in-command Sheikh Abdulakdir Ali stated day-to-day matters would be handled by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's executive committee.^{[2] [13]}

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.^[14]

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."^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17]

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.^[18]

On December 27, 2006, Aweys, along with a group of hundreds of fighters from the Hizbul Shabaab wing of the ICU fled Mogadishu, presumably to the former AIAI base at Ras Kamboni.^[19] 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.^[20]

In January 2007, his whereabouts remained generally unknown, but it was believed he was ailing. ^[17]

[edit] References