06/13/2006 - By Fredrick Nzwili (from Terrorism Focus, June 13) - The crisis in Somalia may be entering a new phase. A union of Islamic courts has taken control of the lawless capital, Mogadishu. On June 4, after months of intense fighting, militiamen loyal to the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), headed by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, expelled the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) from Mogadishu. Last week, after pushing the ARPCT warlords out of the capital, the ICU asserted its authority by establishing three new Islamic courts in Mogadishu in areas previously controlled by warlords (Somaliland Times, June 6). They also advanced toward the warlord stronghold of Jowhar, a town 90 kilometers north of Mogadishu, sending fears that Somalia was headed for extremist Muslim leadership.

A fluent Arabic speaker, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is viewed as a moderate belonging to an anti-fundamentalist Sufist group known as Ahl Sunnah wal jama'ah. Ahmed taught Geography, Arabic and Religious Studies at Juba Secondary School before being nominated as the leader of the ICU in 2004. He was born in January 1964 in Chabila, a town in Central Somalia, and educated in universities in Libya and Sudan (Asharq al-Awsat, May 17).

His deputies Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Adan Hashi Ayro, however, are militants who initiated al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI), a charity organization—with a militant wing—accused of having links with al-Qaeda. AIAI was responsible for small-scale attacks against Ethiopia in 1996 until Addis Ababa launched cross-border raids and successfully weakened AIAI's operations (Terrorism Monitor, February 19, 2005). Since gaining control of Mogadishu, Ahmed's assurance to the international community that the ICU is against terrorism has reinforced his moderate position. Nevertheless, the West has remained reserved about trusting Ahmed due to the presence of Aweys and Ayro inside Ahmed's faction. According to Ahmed, the courts seek to enable the Somali people to choose their country's destiny, terming the ICU takeover as a popular revolution and a response to years of anarchy and plunder by the warlords. He also clarified that the ICU would not start a Taliban-style system of government.

Traditionally, Somalia has had non-violent Islamic courts. With the overthrow of President Siyad Barre in 1991, however, warlords, clan elders and religious leaders established new forms of authority that aimed at restoring law and order. In 1996, members of AIAI, mainly from south Mogadishu, established a new type of ruling system that refused to acknowledge the warlords' supremacy; additionally, they provided protection to businessmen who had been overtaxed and harassed by various militants. From the outset, the Islamic courts were more popular than the warlords' militias, since the warlords carried out countless kidnappings—while demanding huge ransoms—and partook in numerous killings. In 2004, the separate Islamic courts joined to form the ICU. The members built a joint militia with 400 men and 15 "technicals" (trucks fitted with guns). Presently, Mogadishu has 11 independent Islamic courts, which try and punish crimes under Sharia law. Criminals' limbs are amputated for lesser crimes, while those thought to have committed more serious crimes, such as murder, are executed (each court has a militia that acts as its police force).

Since 2004, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, 61, has appeared as the most powerful and outspoken religious figure in the ICU. According to Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) MP Awad Ashara, Aweys is a former prisons colonel who started preaching in the late 1970s. At the formation of the Joint Islamic Courts Council in 2000—the merging of Mogadishu's independent courts in south Mogadishu—Aweys automatically became the council's secretary general. The merger of the courts' militias raised the largest force in Mogadishu (Center for Humanitarian Dialogue Report, July 2005). After his name appeared on the U.S. list of the most wanted terrorists, however, Aweys disappeared only to resurface in 2004 to run Ifka Halanka, a powerful court in Malka, south Mogadishu.

Aweys' group, AIAI, has been opposed to the TFG since its creation (SomaliNet, September 5, 2005). Around June 2005, Aweys accused the TFG of selling the country to enemies such as Ethiopia, and indicated that he was preparing for war. He had called for jihad, warning that his faction would not be mere spectators in the Somali crisis. Ashara told The Jamestown Foundation that Aweys, who is opposed to "man-made laws" in favor of Sharia, is using the courts for selfish gains. Although Ashara says that Aweys enjoys some support in Mogadishu, he said Aweys could soon face resistance for those opposed to his interpretation of the Sharia courts.

Working with Aweys is Adan Hashi Ayro, a militia commander of one of the courts. He is considered an extremist Muslim and was trained in Afghanistan. He came to the fore following the recent attacks that involved the desecration of Italian cemeteries in Mogadishu and was blamed for killing five Western aid workers and BBC journalist Kate Peyton last year. He is largely viewed as a newcomer on the Somali scene, being mentored by Aweys. Reports in 2005 said that Ayro and Aweys were running camps where religious extremists received military training. The training also included indoctrination into fundamentalist ideology aimed at advocating jihad in Islamic states.

The true nature of the ICU is emerging. They have already closed down makeshift cinemas to prevent people from watching the Soccer World Cup. They have also broken-up groups watching the soccer matches (Daily Nation, June 12). This may be just the beginning. If they continue to clamp down on Somali society, and refuse to be more democratic, they will likely meet increased resistance from the population, making them just as unpopular as the warlords.

Posted By: Jamestown