Free Republic

Note: Photo included. Photo caption: "Hizbul Islam leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys." # A senior Islamist leader and ally of al Qaeda has called for additional suicide attacks against African Union peacekeepers operating in Mogadishu. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Hizbul Islam, or the Party of God, called for more suicide attacks during a sermon in the town of Elashabiyah, just outside Mogadishu. "I also call upon the people to carry out more attacks against the African forces; they came to Somalia to assist our enemy, kill them ... in any way possible and use suicide attacks to...

SNIPPET: "The two main Islamist terror groups battling the weak Somali government may merge into a single outfit. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Hizbul Islam or the Party of Islam, said he is working to unite his faction with Shabaab, an al Qaeda-backed Islamic terror group that has lobbied to join the international terrorist organization. Aweys said talks were proceeding and urged followers to continue to fight until they achieve "victory over enemies" of Islam."" SNIPPET: "Al Qaeda has increasingly focused on Somalia as being a major theater in their efforts to drive the West from African, the...

NAIROBI, Kenya - An influential religious leader and alleged al-Qaida collaborator vowed in an interview Wednesday to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, a lawless Horn of Africa nation the United States fears could grow into a major base for Islamic terrorists. "The Western world should respect our own ideas in choosing the way we want to govern our country, the way we want to go about our own business. That is our right," said Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, a key figure in a growing religious camp vying with secular factions for control of Somalia. Despite peace talks and the...

A Swedish citizen released by the government last year is currently a senior leader of a Somali Islamist terror alliance currently fighting against the newly formed government. Swedish police arrested three Swedish citizens in February 2008 on charges of funneling money to Al Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group with close links to al Qaeda. One of the men was released shortly afterward, and the remaining two men were released in June 2008 because “the evidence was insufficient” to prove the men had made the transfer, SvD Online reported. The suspects were put on parole, banned from travel, and ordered not...