Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys Arrives in Mogadishu
Mogadishu, 29 June 2013 (SDN) – Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys a key al-Shabab leader in Somalia who has defected from the Al qaeda linked militiants has been flown to Mogadishu tonight after he was successfully convinced by council of elders to fly to Mogadishu for further talks with the top government officials. The plane carrying Hassan Dahir with the president of Himan and Heeb and clan elders landed Adam Adde international airport about 8 pm local time. Airport security was tightened and federal government deployed highly trained police squad known as Alpha Group.
Sheikh Hassan previously refused to travel to Mogadishu and asked clan elders to give him troops to fight the federal government but after successive meeting, he finally accepted to travel to the capital.
It is believed that the Sheikh is being lured to quite Alshabab as divisions emerged recently among themselves which forced Mr. Hassan to seek refuge to Himan and Heeb authorities.
Mr Aweys is seen as the elder statesman of Somali Islamists and has been on a US list of people “linked to terrorism” since shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Analysts say the administration in Adado – a town about 500km (310 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu – where Mr Aweys arrived earlier in the week, does not want to provoke clashes.
Mr Aweys left al-Shabab territory after factions within the al-Qaeda linked group clashed last week – the first deadly infighting since it launched an insurgency in 2006.
Al-Shabab, which means “The Youth”, is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia – and despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years still remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside.
It was formed in 2006 as a radical offshoot of the now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts, which was led by Mr Aweys and for much of that year controlled Mogadishu and many southern and central areas.
The exact cause of the al-Shabab split is not known, but there has been a long-running internal power struggle between its leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and those seen as more moderate who oppose links with al-Qaeda, analysts say.
There are conflicting reports about the fate of the second-in-command – Ibrahim Afghan, the al-Shabab founder – following last week’s fighting. Initially, sources told the BBC he had been captured and was in al-Shabab detention; subsequent reports in local media say he has been executed.
Some 18,000 African Union troops are in Somalia supporting the government of President Mohamud who was elected by MPs last September.
His administration is the first one in more than two decades to be recognised by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
SDN Mogadishu