LONDON, July 27, 2006 – It would be deeply worrying for Somalia if the country's most powerful Islamist leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, assumed a prominent role in the government, Britain's minister for Africa said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters in London, Lord David Triesman said Aweys' Islamist fighters had broken promises since they took control of most of the capital Mogadishu on June 5.

"I think it would be profoundly damaging to the interests of the people of Somalia ... were he to be a leading member of government," Triesman said.

Aweys heads the Council of Islamic Courts of Somalia (ICU), whose militias control much of Mogadishu.

The United States says he is "linked to terrorism", and has ruled out any contact with him, while the United Nations has placed him on a list of people "belonging to or associated with" al Qaeda, a charge Aweys denies.

The British suspect him of involvement in deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa in the 1990s.

His rise to power in Mogadishu has raised fears his forces could topple the interim government of President Abdillahi Yusuf, now based in the provincial town of Baidoa.

"It would be unacceptable ... for people to seize by force the government of Somalia," Triesman said.

"It would be deeply disturbing ... if a force led by people who we have good reason to believe were involved with the bombing of embassies in East Africa were the leaders of that government."

Triesman, who traveled to the region recently, said African Union officials had told him that Eritrea was supplying the Islamists with arms, a charge the government in Asmara denies.

The minister accepted Britain had no first-hand evidence of this but added: "I suspect it's probably not just a rumor".

He also said he had seen no evidence to suggest Ethiopian troops were in Somalia, despite reports from eye witnesses and regional experts who say several thousand of them have been sent to near Baidoa to bolster Yusuf's government.

"It's very hard to know exactly who is and who isn't in the country," Triesman said. "I have no real reason to think the Ethiopian government has any strong desire to be in Somalia." Despite his criticism of Aweys, Triesman acknowledged the cleric's forces and their allies had made Mogadishu safer.

"The alliance of people who form the ICU have unquestionably had an impact on the level of security and the sense of well-being of the people of Mogadishu ," he said.

Source: Reuters