Everything about Hassan Dahir Aweys totally explained
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys (born in
1935-), aged 71 in 2006, was the head of the 90-member
shura council of the
Islamic Courts Union of
Somalia. 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, although the BBC stated that he was the "real power" of the organization.
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.
History
During the regime of
Siad Barre, Aweys was a colonel in the
Somali National Army (SNA) during the 1977
Ogaden War against
Ethiopia, during which he was cited for bravery.
Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI)
al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (AIAI), an
Islamist group that was responsible for terrorist attacks on hotels and markets in
Addis Ababa,
Dire Dawa,
Jijiga, and
Harar, 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. AIAI was destroyed later in the 1990s by a force led by now-Somali President
Abdullahi Yusuf and funded by Ethiopia.
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. Aweys is also on the terrorist list of the
United States Department of State. When
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was elected president in 2004, Aweys declared that he'd 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)
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. The Courts' second-in-command Sheikh
Abdulakdir Ali stated day-to-day matters would be handled by
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's executive committee.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
In
January 2007, his whereabouts remained generally unknown, but it was believed he was ailing.
Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia
In September 2007, he emerged in Eritrea forming a new rebel movement.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hassan Dahir Aweys'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://hassan_dahir_aweys.totallyexplained.com">Hassan Dahir Aweys Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
