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Somali al-Qaeda mouthpiece denounces new government
An Islamic court official who wields growing influence in Mogadishu denounced the Somali government as unlawful on Tuesday, dismissing charges by cabinet ministers that terrorists had set up bases in the country.
Hassan Dahir Aweis, head of an administrative umbrella group supervising Mogadishu's sharia courts, said charges of terrorism made against the courts' increasingly assertive militia were fabricated by the West and its friends in the Horn of Africa. "What was built in Nairobi last year was something illegal meant to cause division (among Somalis)," Aweis said in a rare briefing for reporters in the capital Mogadishu, referring to the creation of the government at peace talks in Kenya in 2004.
| 'cause everyone can see how united the Somali people are. Always have been. Nuttin' can divide 'em. |
He dismissed allegations that the capital's Islamic courts were breeding a new generation of militants linked to al Qaeda. "That is a political statement written in the newspapers by failed politicians and individuals in order to satisfy the West and its allied Christians in the region," Aweis said, using Islamists' preferred description for neighbouring Ethiopia.
| I'm sure he'll get around to blaming the Joooos at some point. |
Formed last year at peace talks in Kenya, Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), the 3,179th 14th attempt to reinstate central authority, has the task of ending fighting between warlords who carved the country into rival fiefdoms. Hardline Islamists in Mogadishu have withheld their endorsement of President Abdullahi Yusuf's Ethiopian-backed government, saying it is not based on Islamic law, and accuse it of propagating Christian and anti-Islamic Western ideas. Aweis, who resurfaced in Somalia in 2004 after vanishing amid heightened U.S. scrutiny after the September 11 attacks, has long attracted the interest of Western governments.
| Since there's no law in Somalia, we should be able to reach out and grab him, shouldn't we? |
The International Crisis Group think-tank recently warned of a growing "new, ruthless independent Jihadi network" which it said was being run from Mogadishu by Aden Hashi Ayro, a militia leader trained in Afghanistan. Ayro, an ally of Aweis's, was promoted last month to become the head of the Islamic court militia. A prominent peace activist Abdulkadir Yahya was shot dead last month and his relatives said Ayro was responsible. Ayro denied that charge.
| "Wudn't me. Besides, the witnesses are dead." |
He also denied accusations by Somali government officials that he has carried out a string of assassinations of veteran former army officers and policemen who had been expected to help the TFG restore order to the country. Yusuf is a friend of Ethiopia, the region's top military power, but to date he has worked from provincial Somali towns, arguing with good reason that Mogadishu is too risky as yet to serve as his base. Many Somalis are hostile to what they see as attempts by their huge, nominally Christian-led neighbour to dictate events in the region. Aweis said his followers, together with some government officials, were working to improve security in Mogadishu. The sharia courts are the only form of organised justice for the city's one million people, apart from customary clan law, and some residents credit them with bringing some security to Mogadishu, the single most dangerous city in Somalia. "The Islamic militia succeeds in controlling most danger zones of Mogadishu and we should support them," said street vendor Halima Hassan.
| It's fair to say that Somalia represents the ultimate expression of Sharia and tribal feudalism. Nice going, guys. |
| I'd say they've got they government they want, and probably the government they deserve. I wouldn't let them into any civilized countries, though. |
Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-08-31 |
