Suspected al-Qaida aide leads Somali group

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A fundamentalist Muslim who is listed by the U.S. State Department as a suspected al-Qaida collaborator was named Saturday as the new leader of an Islamic militia that has seized control of Somalia's capital.

The militia, which changed its name Saturday from the Islamic Courts Union to the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts, said in a statement it had appointed Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys as its new leader. The Bush administration says Aweys was an associate of Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s.

The Islamic militia seized control of the capital Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia from an alliance of warlords earlier this month. Aweys' appointment makes it unlikely that the increasingly powerful militia will govern using the moderate brand of Islam practiced by most Somalis.

The move is also likely to stoke Washington's long-standing fears that the chaotic east African nation will become a staging ground for terrorist attacks much like Afghanistan did in the 1990s.

Aweys appeared on a list of individuals and organizations accused of having ties to terrorism which was released by the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks. A conservative Somali group called al-Itihaad al-Islaami and its founder, Aweys, were featured for their alleged links to bin Laden while the al-Qaida leader was living in Sudan in the early 1990s.

Aweys, a cleric believed to be in his 60s, has told The Associated Press in past interviews that al-Itihaad no longer exists and he has no ties to al-Qaida.

In recent years, he helped establish the Islamic Courts Union militia and continues to be one of the group's most influential and fundamentalist leaders, strenuously advocating a strict Islamic government to end 15 years of anarchy in Somalia.

In 1991, warlords drove out dictator Mohammed Siad Barre and turned on each other, rendering Somalia a patchwork of rival fiefdoms.

Aweys, who went into hiding following the Sept. 11 attacks and only re-emerged in August 2005, has condemned the new United Nations-backed transitional government in Somalia.

That largely powerless government is based in Baidoa, 90 miles northwest of Mogadishu, because the capital is so violent. It has taken control only of a small portion of the nation of 7 million.

Aweys replaces Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who is a moderate in comparison. Ahmed had softened his rhetoric calling for strict Islamic, or sharia, law. He also agreed this week to recognize the interim government and halt all military action.

Somalia fundamentalist leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys stands inside a mosque in northern Mogadishu, in this Oct. 12, 2005, file photo. Aweys, who is listed by the U.S. State Department as a suspected al-Qaida collaborator, was named Saturday, June 24, 2006, as the new leader of an Islamic militia that has seized control of Somalia's capital. The militia, which changed its name Saturday from the Islamic Courts Union to the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts, said in a statement it had appointed Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys as its new leader. The Bush administration says Aweys was an associate of Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s. (AP Photo/Osman Hassan,

Islamic Courts Union (ICU) Chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed addresses the media in the Somali capital Mogadishu June 24, 2006. The leader of Somalia's newly powerful Islamists expressed his condolences on Saturday to the family of a Swedish cameraman shot dead during a rally in Mogadishu and promised to catch his killer. (Shabelle Media/Reuters)

Somali Islamist chief says will find cameraman's killer

In this handout photo released by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, taken on July 4 2005, Swedish freelance cameraman Martin Adler stands in an unidentified region of Afghanistan. An unidentified gunman shot Adler in the back and killed him as he filmed a protest Friday June 23 2006 in the restive Somali capital Mogadishu. The slaying of Adler shows that despite peace efforts, the country of Somalia remains a dangerous and lawless place where anti-foreigner sentiment runs high. (AP Photo / Aftonbladet, ho)

US looks to Sudan to broker deadlock over Mogadishu

Nairobi, Kenya, 06/23 - The United States has expressed confidence in Sudan`s ability to broker the deadlock over which group would legitimately rule Somali`s erstwhile capital, Mogadishu, which has been embroiled in fierce fighting since February.

Sudanese President Omar Bashir was gearing to host Mogadishu`s ruling class led by the Union of Islamic Courts and senior officials from the interim Somali government for peace talks to prevent further escalation of fighting.

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Fraser said President Bashir was capable of mediating the peace talks, because of his military experience.

"We hope he (President Bashir) would be an honest broker. He is a moderate military leader who became President. We do not doubt Sudan`s role in achieving peace, having the understanding of Somalia," Fraser told journalists in Nairobi on 21 June.

"We are pushing and urging for legitimacy to continue. We are urging for dialogue within the Somalia society, the civil society and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). We have asked all the Somali parties to work with us," said Fraser.

Somalia has been a battleground since February when a group of warlords took up arms against the Union of Islamic Courts, an alliance of 14 "sharia" courts, which has been trying to occupy the power vacuum in Somalia where there is no effective control.

The Islamic Courts have gained control of Mogadishu and other key provincial towns in Somalia after driving out an alliance of secular warlords, who had been controlling the capital city for 15 years from revenue generated from taxes collected from traders.

Efforts by the President Abdullahi Yusuf-led administration to negotiate with the Islamic Courts on a joint security plan for the capital collapsed a week ago and the Arab League has taken the mantle to mediate peace talks to prevent further fighting.

President Yusuf`s government and Parliament last week passed a motion in Parliament, allowing for the deployment of foreign troops to help pacify Mogadishu.

But the US remains non-committal on the troops plan or requests by the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to have the decade-old Somali arms embargo lifted to give room for President Yusuf to establish his authority.

Reports say the Islamists and the interim government are sharply divided over the government`s support for an African peacekeeping force in Somalia.

"We have not taken a position on the deployment of troops to Somalia. We have taken note of the various communiqués issued by IGAD and the AU calling for the lifting of the arms embargo. This is a dynamic period and we are not taking a position," Fraser said.

Fraser has embarked on a diplomatic outreach, seeking the support of the IGAD states, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan on a wide range of issues concerning Somalia, although the US has not made its agenda clearer.

The AU has previously approved the deployment of African peacekeeping force from Uganda and Sudan, which would require the lifting of an arms embargo that the United States has said is important for security in the country, which is awash in weapons.

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