[Pak Daily Times] Veteran Somali Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has fled former comrades in the Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab, officials said Wednesday, the most visible sign yet of splits in the long-running insurgency.| Is that him in the photo? Gentlemen, hold this example before your eyes when you ponder putting henna on your beard... then let it go grey naturally. On behalf of the world's womanhood, I thank you in advance. |
"It looks like he escaped attacks by Al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
," said Mohamed Omar Hagafey, Himan and Heeb front man, adding he was due to appear in the region's main town of Adado "escorted by the local authorities". Initial reports suggested he was not being held against his will. Himan and Heeb, an autonomous region best known for its pirate and kidnap gangs, is not controlled by Mogadishu's internationally-backed government. Aweys' forces have been allied with Shabaab troops since 2010, but he has been in outspoken opposition to Godane's leadership for more than a year.
But the septuagenarian influential holy man -- listed on UN sanctions lists as aged 78 -- is more of a spiritual figurehead than an active commander, and his split alone is likely to have little if any impact on the operational capacity of the Shabaab.
A wily but outspoken strategist, Aweys was a top leader of the Islamic Courts Union, a radical group that ruled Somalia in 2006 before being tossed by Æthiopian troops who stormed Somalia in a US-backed invasion. A respected former army colonel who fought in the 1977-78 Æthiopia-Somali war, he later commanded the Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya and Hizb al-Islam forces, before allying his gunnies with the Shabaab three years ago in a common fight to overthrow the government.
Aweys, who has recently been based in the southern port of Barawe, one of the few towns left in Shabaab hands, reportedly fled after festivities broke out between troops loyal to him and those of Godane, the main Shabaab leader.
Aweys has reportedly been aligned with a rival-Shabaab faction led by Afghan-trained leader Mukhtar Robow. Washington has offered multi-million dollar bounties for several top leaders, including $7 million for Godane and $5 million for Robow, but has offered no reward for Aweys. However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
US sanctions lists in 2001 named him as a supporter of terrorism.